IJMC - Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

And in theory, I'll be driving out of state later tonight. Let's hope 
reality matches the theory. The dealership tells me my car will be ready 
and the tire store tells me they can toss a new set of tires on my car 
before they close...I may still be here tomorrow. We'll see. Regardless, 
I'm going to be optimistic and assume I'll be gone and take care of the 
New Year's IJMC now. And then, when I return after New Year's, I'll play 
catch-up and send out two-a-day for a while. Right.                -dave




 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 Biologist and a Physicist are sitting in a street
 cafe watching people going in to and coming out of a 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 people coming out
 of the house.  
 
 The Physicist's conclusion:  "The measurement wasn't accurate."
 
 The Biologist's conclusion:  "They have reproduced."
 
 The Mathematician:  "If exactly 1 person will enter the house, it will
 be empty again."
 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 An engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician are shown a pasture with
 a herd of sheep, and told to put them inside the smallest possible
 amount of fence.  The engineer is first.  He herds the  sheep into a
 circle and then puts the fence around them, declaring, "A circle will
 use the least fence for a given area, so this is the best solution."
 
 The physicist is next.  She creates a circular fence of infinite
 radius around the sheep, and then draws the fence tight around the
 herd, declaring, "This will give the smallest circular fence around
 the herd."
 
 The mathematician is last.  After giving the problem a little thought,
 he puts a small fence around himself and then declares, "I define
 myself to be on the outside."