So I plan on reading the reaction tables for various ingredients and the lab safety standards, then re-reading them, until I have them memorized and burnt into my brain. I immediately run into a problem, but for once it was a good kind of problem to have: I don't need to reread the reaction table to memorize it. I read it once, then thoroughly pass any kind of pop quiz I give myself (with my parent's help) ...even a week later. The material seems lodged in my brain for good. Operating on a hunch, I have my mother make up a pop quiz on that magical theory book and administer it. Even two weeks later, on a subject I dismissed as "interesting but not useful', I passed it flawlessly.