Is there a shorter term for ‘someone who deals with applied mathematics’?
Applied mathematician? That’s how they’re called in this department, anyway.
But is this valid English? Would a 15-year-old who plays the lute be called an ‘old musician’?
You have “mathematicians”, who are divided into “pure mathematicians” and “applied mathematicians”. Whether it be “valid English” or not, it is certainly the way the language is used in practice.
It’s an interesting turn of phrase, certainly. Reminds me, actually, of a Phil Vassar song where he describes himself as a ‘failed historian.’
Not meaning that he set out to make the study of history his life’s work and couldn’t land one of the paying jobs in the field, but just that he flunked a required history class in high school. 
And I would think of an ‘old musician’ as being at least 45, but YMMV.
What ctnguy said.
The concept of “applied” in research has a specific meaning, and that is research that has a specific purpose or use. This is as opposed to “pure”, which is research pursued for its own sake, not because it has any specific purpose. There is a lot of blurring, but those are the basic distinction.
Robin
I’m not sure y’all see my objection to the term. A mathematician is a person wo does math. Then an ‘applied mathematician’ is an applied [person who does math], since the second part is a lexical unit. It is NOT a ‘person who does applied math’, since that would require breaking up the word.
They understand what you are saying just fine. They are simply telling you that language isn’t precise like that. Whether or not it makes “sense”, that’s the term that is used.
Then would you use it in formal writing?
Yes, it would be used in formal writing by just about anyone talking about applied math.
It’s not a phrasing that’s unique to math, I think. A civil engineer isn’t an engineer who behaves in a polite manner at all times. An electrical engineer isn’t one who has wires running through the middle of his hands and legs. And a thoracic surgeon isn’t a doctor who has a bigger chest than other people, or anything like that.
In general, if an adjective modifier describes a subfield of learning, then it can be applied in just the same way to the word for someone who practices or studies that field to describe a subfield specialist.
“Applied” is an adjective that modifies “mathematician.” Therefore, unless your English professor is a stickler for this stuff, it’s safe to use in formal writing. And if your English professor is a stickler for that sort of stuff, let him explain his logic to you.
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. Writing is about being understood. You can write the most grammatically correct, perfectly punctuated essay, but if your audience can’t understand it, you’ve wasted your time and theirs. I can understand wanting to follow all of the rules in the context of a graded course, but the secret to being a good writer is in knowing when to follow which rules, and when it’s OK to break them.
Robin
Ah. Now I can put this to rest. Thanks, chrisk.
And the answer to my initial question would be ‘no’, since ‘mathematician’ has the same number of syllables as ‘someone who does math’…
A search of the Notices, which is a magazine published by the American Mathematical Society, reveals frequent uses of the term.
No, but she might be called a ‘renaissance musician’ without implying that she is a ‘renaissance woman’ (in the sense of being accomplished in a wide variety of fields).
[And, as noted, if you take ‘civil’ to mean ‘polite’ then ‘Civil Engineer’ is one of those oxymoron things]
Another example would be “inorganic chemist”, for someone who studies inorganic chemistry. You would not parse that as a chemist who was inorganic, i.e., composed solely of non-carbon-based compounds. Then you have “micro economists”, who are not small people studying economics.
… a “legal assistant” is someone who assists in the practice of law, not someone who assists in a manner that comports with the law.
A mathematician is an ematician who studies math. An applied mathematician is an ematician who studies applied math. See, it’s simple.
Ah, so a physician is an ian who studies physics?
No, a physician is an ian who studies physic. Duh.
Will if that’s true then an Applied Mathematician would have to be an ian who studies applied Math while ematic