Aaaaaagh! No! Learning math is not about acquiring mechanical skills -although that is the way it is taught in this country, where you find lots of students who can integrate a wide set of functions, without having a clue as to what an integral is.
Progress in math is not a continuous function of the amount of time you put into it. You progress in jumps - you try to solve a difficult problem, or understand a difficult definition, you pace around the room, you go take a pee, you pound the desk, and (almost) all of a sudden you get it. Until you solve that one difficult problem, it doesn't really matter how many easy, mechanical exercises you perform. Once you do, you are done for the day.
Physics is much the same. Other natural sciences are less about mastering concepts and more about acquiring knowledge.
A good teacher who can explain concepts well is of great help in all this. Unfortunately, in this country people who can do that are off getting MBAs and giving Powerpoint presentations in some corporate bureaucracy
All this my not-so-humble opinion, of course.
-- Enrique Diaz-Alvarez Office # (607) 255 5034 Electrical Engineering Home # (607) 272 4808 112 Phillips Hall Fax # (607) 255 4565 Cornell University mailto:enrique at ee.cornell.edu Ithaca, NY 14853 http://peta.ee.cornell.edu/~enrique