Messenger - Vol. 2, No. 1, Page 26
Fall 1992
Captivating chemistry

     Oohs and aahs fill the lecture hall as the amazed chemistry students
watch the molten iron overflow the flower pot. They are among the hundreds
of undergraduates who have witnessed Wayne King's "thermite" reaction,
which results from iron oxide (rust) reacting with aluminum. King, Delaware
'88, says, "I like to show people that chemistry can be fun and
interesting, not something that's dry, boring and stuck in books." King, a
Ph.D. candidate in inorganic chemistry at Northwestern University in
Evanston, Ill., is one of several chemical demonstrators there. But
according to The Daily Northwestern, the school newspaper, "to the students
in A01 General Chemistry, King is an icon." He "brings enthusiasm and life
to the performing of experiments," says one of King's professors. King says
he was influenced by Delaware's Arnold L. Rheingold, professor of chemistry
and biochemistry.
                                   -Cassandra Lassiter, Delaware '92