# Engineer -\> Physisist -\> Mathematiction What's next? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256 "2011-04-05T11:58:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/21 "2011-04-05T17:58:34Z")
A second vote for computer. If you can’t work out the answer formally solve it numerically or run a simulation. See for example the [4 color problem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_color_problem) ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/22 "2011-04-05T18:23:10Z")
There’s the story about how the different professions prove that all odd numbers are prime. First, the Mathematician: “1 is prime, 1+2=3 is prime, 3+2=5 which is prime, 5+2=7 which is prime… Therefore by induction, all odd numbers are prime…!” Then the Physicist: “1 is prime, 3 is prime, 5 is prime, 7 is prime, 9… experimental error, 11 is prime; all odd numbers are prime!” Then the Engineer: “1 is prime, 3 is prime, 5 is prime, 7 is prime, 9 is prime, 11 is prime… All odd numbers are prime!” Geez, it’s almost like this was a setup for this joke… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/23 "2011-04-05T19:03:35Z")
I don’t know, I always heard that last one attributed to a business major. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/24 "2011-04-05T19:16:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t know, I always heard that last one attributed to a business major. I think the Business Major would say “Everyone knows prime is 1.25%”. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/25 "2011-04-05T19:21:53Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > There’s the story about how the different professions prove that all odd numbers are prime. A mathmatician, a physicist, and an engineer were all given a red rubber ball and told to find the volume. [ul] [li]The mathematician carefully measured the diameter and evaluated a triple integral.[/li][li]The physicist filled a beaker with water, put the ball in the water, and measured the total displacement.[/li][li]The engineer looked up the model and serial numbers in his red-rubber-ball table.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/26 "2011-04-05T20:12:45Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > I thought it was mathematician \> another mathematician \> Paul Erdos (If you’re lucky) > > Or, alternately, it goes mathematician \> another mathematician \> another mathematician and on around until you need something actually done at which point you ask an engineer. Well, you have to work through the mathematicians by their [Erdős Number](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erd%C5%91s_number) until you get to Paul Erdős. [I’m a 4.] ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/27 "2011-04-05T21:47:31Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > x=ky That’s porn, not engineering. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/28 "2011-04-05T22:24:13Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Well, mathematics is a branch of logic, which is a branch of philosophy, which, ultimately, is a concern of language, so the English department is the highest mucky-muck of the intellectual fields and funding ought to reflect that. > > 😉 > > (Alternately, logic is a branch of the formal grammars, which are an element of programming language design, so computer science is the most fundamental of the fundamental truth-seeking academic disciplines, and everything else is philately.) Philately will get you anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/29 "2011-04-06T00:01:30Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > There’s the story about how the different professions prove that all odd numbers are prime. > > First, the Mathematician: > “1 is prime, 1+2=3 is prime, 3+2=5 which is prime, 5+2=7 which is prime… > Therefore by induction, all odd numbers are prime…!” > > Then the Physicist: > “1 is prime, 3 is prime, 5 is prime, 7 is prime, 9… experimental error, 11 is prime; all odd numbers are prime!” > > Then the Engineer: > “1 is prime, 3 is prime, 5 is prime, 7 is prime, 9 is prime, 11 is prime… All odd numbers are prime!” > > Geez, it’s almost like this was a setup for this joke… i know it’s a joke but i just have to say 1 is definitely not prime. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/30 "2011-04-06T09:05:30Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > [Obligatory](http://xkcd.com/435/) 🙂 Don’t miss the mouse over. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/31 "2011-04-06T09:45:29Z")
> [@mrklutz](#): > > That’s porn, not engineering. No, but it is an intentional double entendre. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/32 "2011-04-06T12:46:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t know, I always heard that last one attributed to a business major. “Engineer’s induction” is a term of art in theoretical computer science. 😛 Anyway, there’s a whole school of thought within CS that mathematics is just a branch of computer science, not the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/33 "2011-04-06T18:18:07Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > I thought it was mathematician \> another mathematician \> Paul Erdos (If you’re lucky) You’d have to be pretty damn lucky these days. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/34 "2011-04-06T22:28:55Z")
Engineer -\> Physicist -\> Mathematician \>Ask your father \>Ask your mother ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/35 "2011-04-07T14:58:26Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Engineer -\> Physicist -\> Mathematician > > \>Ask your father > > \>Ask your mother Which always ilicits the same two responses. \> What did your mother say? \> What did your father say? ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/36 "2011-04-07T16:55:08Z")
What is 2+1…depends on who you ask: Mathematician - 3. of course Engineer - 3…but to be safe we’ll call it 27. Statistician - between 2.95 and 3.05 with 95% confidence Philosopher - what is a number anyway? Real estate agent - a really, really spacious 3 - you could consider it a 5. Market researcher - what do you want it to be? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256/37 "2011-04-07T17:21:30Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > What is 2+1…depends on who you ask: > > Mathematician - 3. of course “Of course”? I want to see a proof! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-physisist-mathematiction-whats-next/577256.md?page=1)