Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

>Malcolm wrote in his book about smart people simply not being able to grok organic chemistry.

I adjusted majors in no small part because of intro organic chemistry. Just didn't connect.




I think a contributing factor for organic chemistry is not everyone teaches the mindset needed to do well. Good teachers will help students explicitly build a heuristic mental model for what the electrons might do in a particular bonding environment. Not everyone thinks naturally that way, but I think it’s a lot more effective than the raw pattern matching approach many people seem to bring to organic chemistry




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: