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A cow in Scotland
I matematik är det oerhört viktigt att uttrycka sig korrekt.
Följande historia är ett bra exempel på detta!
"There are three men on a train, an economist, a logician and a mathematician. They have just crossed the border into Scotland when they see a brown cow standing in a field from the window of the train (and the cow is standing parallel to the train).
The economist says, 'Look, the cows in Scotland are brown.'
The logician says, 'No. There are cows in Scotland of which at least one is brown.'
The mathematician says, 'No. There is at least one cow in Scotland, of which one side appears to be brown.
 
Old mathematicians
 Old mathematicians never die; they just lose some of their functions.
 


The fire
An engineer, a physicist and a mathematician are staying in a hotel.

The engineer wakes up and smells smoke. He goes out into the hallway and sees a fire, so he fills a trash can from his room with water and douses the fire. He goes back to bed.

Later, the physicist wakes up and smells smoke. He opens his door and sees a fire in the hallway. He walks down the hall to a fire hose and after calculating the flame velocity, distance, water pressure, trajectory, etc. extinguishes the fire with the minimum amount of water and energy needed.

Later, the mathematician wakes up and smells smoke. He goes to the hall, sees the fire and then the fire hose. He thinks for a moment and then exclaims, "Ah, a solution exists!" and then goes back to bed.


The coffee machine
A physicist and a mathematician are sitting in a faculty lounge. Suddenly, the coffee machine catches on fire. The physicist grabs a bucket and leap towards the sink, filled the bucket with water and puts out the fire.

Second day, the same two sit in the same lounge. Again, the coffee machine catches on fire. This time, the mathematician stands up, got a bucket, hands the bucket to the physicist, thus reducing the problem to a previously solved one.