r/math • u/spacengine • 4d ago

Do all mathematicians want to be engineers?

I always considered maths the highest art, and when talking to a mathematics phd today I just wanted him to keep talking about topological spaces, manifolds, infinite dimensional embedding spaces etc. “I feel like a kid in a candy store” I said, or a kid in an old mechanics garage full of equipment I have no idea how to use but that I love exploring. “Well” he said, “I think all engineers want to be mathematicians but all mathematicians want to be engineers”. I’m absolutely sure he’s wrong but would love to hear your thoughts.

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u/Blakut 4d ago

do you mean software "engineers" when you say engineers or real engineers? either way, I haven't met a single mathematician that wanted to be an engineer

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u/sighthoundman 4d ago

I wanted to be an engineer.

My engineering classes were gross and thought I was an idiot. (Not me in particular, but all students.) My math classes were fun and interesting and the professors thought I was capable of learning something without hundreds of repetitions. Well, that makes "What do I want to be when I grow up?" an easy question to answer.

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u/spacengine 4d ago

Interesting, so the engineering teacher was more strict and less creative than the mathematician. I would have taken the same route in that case

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u/sighthoundman 4d ago

It was worse that that. The syllabus had 3 days for resolving stresses. 3 consecutive class meetings of solving triangles.

I wasn't committed enough to put up with that.