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Mathematicians v. Engineers More | Login | Reply

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Goals (Score:1)

by Aristotle (5147)

The analogy as it is misses a fundamental point: it's not a mathematician's job to get things done. It skips over the fact that without past mathematicians' relentless pursuit for correctness, the engineers of today wouldn't have any better tools than those their ancestors worked with.

There is a divide between those building solutions and those crafting tools. You should know which camp you are in, or you're going to be ineffective. An engineer's methodology is as inappropriate for a mathematician as vice
- Re:Goals (Score:2)
  
  by drhyde (1683) on 2005.01.06 5:14 (#37278) Homepage Journal
  
  It's also worth noting that good engineers *know* that their solutions may not be perfect, but they still find it useful to have an idea of how imperfect they are. If only to justify their shortcuts to their bosses.
  
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