It was incredibly crowded in Eliot 314 this morning. So, even though I love the room (it’s where I started teaching back in 1989), the sunlight, the traffic sounds from Eliot circle, the difficulty of seeing the white boards from certain locations, and I know you love it too …
we will meet for lecture (a true *lecture*) in the Psych auditorium Wed, Sep 2, 9 AM. See you in our new location.
(updated version of post from Aug 20, 2008)
An idiosyncratic assortment of suggestions and observations based on 23+ years of teaching.
The Registrar’s Office has reassigned lab and/or conference sections for several students. Please check your class schedule this weekend to see whether it has been affected. If changes were made, they were made for a reason. You must attend your assigned section for now (note: labs do not meet this week), but there is a small chance (described below) that you can change your section again. (more…)
(initial version published Aug 20, 2008)
Once you get used to them, you may find that the problems
in your textbook have a game-like quality. If you make the right mental
“moves”, you will nearly always solve the problem. It’s a nice way to
get started thinking about organic chemistry, but not terribly realistic.
Modern organic chemists spend most of their time working on problems that can’t
be solved just by making the right moves. These problems are both scientific
and technological and if we ever solve them, we will change how the entire world thinks and lives.
(more…)
(first published Aug 20, 2008)
My first genuine taste of organic chemistry came in my sophomore year
of college (73-74). I studied from a large (1000 page) textbook not too
different from yours. There was a lot to remember, but I was doing
alright until the second quarter when a subtle and unannounced change
in the book quite threw me.
(more…)