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When considering the behaviour of a howitzer:
A mathematician will be able to calculate where the shell will land
A physicist will be able to explain how the shell gets there
An engineer will stand there and try to catch it
An assemblage of the most gifted minds in the world were all posed the
following question:
"What is 2 + 2 ?"
The engineer whips out his slide rule (so it's old) and shuffles it
back and forth, and finally announces "3.99".
The physicist consults his technical references, sets up the problem on
his computer, and announces "it lies between 3.98 and 4.02".
The mathematician cogitates for a while, oblivious to the rest of the
world, then announces: "I don't what the answer is, but I can prove an
answer exists!".
Philosopher: "But what do you mean by 2 + 2 ?"
Logician: "Please define 2 + 2 more precisely."
Accountant: Closes all the doors and windows, looks around carefully
then asks "What do you want the answer to be?"
A mathematician, a physicist, and an engineer were travelling through
Scotland when they saw a black sheep through the window of the train.
"Aha," says the engineer, "I see that Scottish sheep are black."
"Hmm," says the physicist, "You mean that some Scottish sheep are
black."
"No," says the mathematician, "All we know is that there is at least one
sheep in Scotland, and that at least one side of that one sheep is
black!"
An engineer, a physicist and a mathematician are staying in a hotel
while attending a technical seminar.
The engineer wakes up and smells smoke. He goes out into the hallway and
sees a fire, so he fills a trashcan from his room with water and douses
the fire. He goes back to bed. Later, the physicist wakes up and smells
smoke. He opens his door and sees a fire in the hallway.
He walks down the hall to a fire hose and after calculating the flame
velocity, distance, water pressure, trajectory, etc. extinguishes the
fire with the minimum amount of water and energy needed.
Later, the mathematician wakes up and smells smoke. He goes to the hall,
sees the fire and then the fire hose. He thinks for a moment and then
exclaims, "Ah, a solution exists!" and then goes back to bed.
Jim Bembanaste
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