Title: Engineers vs. Mathmaticians vs. Scientists
 
 The graduate with a Science degree asks, "Why does it work?"
 The graduate with an Engineering degree asks, "How does it work?" 
 The graduate with an Accounting degree asks, "How much will it cost?" 
 The graduate with a Liberal Arts degree asks, "Do you want fries with 
 that?"
 
 Engineers think that equations approximate the real world.  Scientists 
 think that the real world approximates equations.  Mathematicians are 
 unable to make the connection...
 
 A Mathematician, a Scientist and a Engineer are sitting in a street cafe 
 watching people going in and coming out of the house on the other side of 
 the street.  First they see two people going into the house. Time passes. 
 After a while they notice three persons coming out of the house. The 
 Engineer: "The measurement wasn't accurate.".
 The Scientist's conclusion: "They have reproduced".
 The Mathematician: "If now exactly 1 person enters the house then it will 
 be empty again."
 
 Three engineering students were gathered together discussing the possible 
 designers of the human body.
 One said, ``It was a mechanical engineer.  Just look at all the joints.'' 
 Another said, ``No, it was an electrical engineer.  The nervous system has 
 many thousands of electrical connections.''
 The last said, ``Actually it was a civil engineer.  Who else would run a 
 toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area?''
 
 An engineer, a mathematician, and a scientist went to the races one 
 Saturday and laid their money down.  Commiserating in the bar after the 
 race, the engineer says, "I don't understand why I lost all my money.  I 
 measured all the horses and calculated their strength and mechanical 
 advantage and figured out how fast they could run..." The scientist 
 interrupted him: "...but you didn't take individual variations into 
 account.  I did a statistical analysis of their previous performances and 
 bet on the horses with the highest probability of winning..."
 "...so if you're so hot why are you broke?" asked the engineer. But before 
 the argument can grow, the mathematician takes out his pipe and they get a 
 glimpse of his well-fattened wallet.  Obviously here was a man who knows 
 something about horses.  They both demanded to know his secret.  "Well," he 
 says, between puffs on the pipe, "first I assumed all the horses were 
 identical and spherical..."
 
 As an experiment, an engineer, a scientist, and a mathematician are placed 
 in separate rooms and left with a can of food, but no can opener.  A day 
 later, the rooms are opened, one-by-one.  In the first room, the engineer 
 is snoring, with a battered, opened and emptied can. When asked, he 
 explains that when he got hungry, he beat the can to its failure point.  In 
 the second room, the scientist is seen mouthing equations, with a can 
 popped open beside him.  When asked, he explains that when he got hungry, 
 he examined the stress points of the can, applied pressure, and "pop!"  In 
 the third room, the mathematician is found sweating, and mumbling to 
 himself, "Assume the can is open, assume the can is open..."
      
      
      
 From: Karen

Wil Stark, wstark04 (at) pobox _dot_com

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