I'm having little trouble studying general relativity or quantum field theory, but remembering all the amino acids and being able to think about them is something that's completely, utterly and absolutely, defeated me...
How do I think about the amino acids, without any memorization, and be able to 'derive' all the names, all the categories they fit into, and their important properties? Memorizing some crazy mnemonic is of no help when it says nothing about the amino acids, I can't memorize it without meaning that explains a lot of things. I ultimately just want to be able to read Albert's Molecular Cell Biology and appreciate it, but I can't without conquering this little issue!
On a side note regarding memorization tricks: is there a mnemonic scheme for the amino acids analogous to the thermodynamical Zhao square, (which gives all the info you need about basic thermo by drawing lines and squares)?
Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you.