Lightbulb-SOLUTION-Don't read if you don't want to know!

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In a message dated 97-10-27 01:48:39 EST, rj@eli.elilabs.com  writes:

<< Do we have too many engineers on this list?  (Is one engineer too
 many?)  Do engineers spoil all your fun?  For engineers, this kind of
 technical discussion -- looking for holes in a design -- *IS* fun: its
 called a design review!  Oh boy, oh boy, I can't wait until the next
 one (just so long as its not *MY* design getting reviewed!).  :-)
 
Me:

Way back in olden times, when I changed my major in college from Physics to
Electrical Engineering, I was quite surprised at the "assumptions" that
engineering students would make in order to delve into a problem. Most
physics students would have been appalled at the lack of time spent up-front
in listing all assumptions, and analyzing their potential effects on the
problem/experiment. I once proved that a measurement of 66 Watts was correct
(when 100 Watts was expected) by  using the tolerances of all components in a
complex circuit we had built. All the engineering students just assumed our
measurement was wrong. (I was right, but we still needed 100 Watts).

In my many years working as a engineer, and with other engineers, I must say
that their willingness to make assumptions in the first place is what
necessitates the "design review". (Of course, I have never done such a thing
myself :-)    )

Why not have the physicists take care of the design, then?  Because they
would still be in the lab, analyzing all possible outcomes, (analysis
paralysis).

The following was told to me by an Electrical Engineering professor (PhD),
who was of extremely high intelligence. (Only one 'B' throughout college, at
MIT when his daughter was born):

Propose the following to a Mathematician, a Physicist, and an Engineer:
"All odd numbers are prime"

The Mathematician answers,
"1 is prime, 3 is prime, 5 is prime, 7 is prime, 9 is NOT prime...the
statement is false.

The Physicist answers,
"1 is prime, 3 is prime, 5 is prime, 7 is prime, 9 is NOT prime, 11 is prime,
13 is prime ... experimental error"

The Engineer answers,
"1 is prime, 3 is prime, 5 is prime, 7 is prime, 9 is prime, 11 is prime,13
is prime...


(The answer to this will be provided to engineers upon request :-)

With all the talk of engineers and physicists on the lists, I'm just
wondering if anyone else here belongs to the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Society,
or to Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Society?

Pastor Joe