demoivre

Not a big fan of chem, huh? I think chemistry (especially Ochem) gets a bad wrap from all the bio majors who have take it, try to memorize it all, and fail to do so. Memorizing chemistry is one way to try and learn it, but for me at least, its much easier to learn the underlying physical principles of the molecules and then apply them to each problem. It works great for figuring out reaction mechanisms and NMR stuff in Ochem. I have to agree though, I'd much rather derive equations than memorize reagents.

The good news for me, though, is that Ochem research has no memorization at all. This is where those physical principles really come into use especially in terms of structural determination and theoretical reactions. I'm sorry, I just get defensive when people think chemistry is all about memorization...thats biology :]

Good day sir.