"Richard Smith" wrote in message ...
......
Yup, I know that as a PhD level scientist I have to work as a welder
because everyone already ensconced in "office engineering" jobs
manicured in their white shirts sees me as a "Dennis Hopper like"
(think eg. "Blue Velvet" (1986) film) character of the science and
engineering world ;-)
If you keep the office door closed to all but your own manicured kind,
you can keep reality out. Who can blame them if no-one comes and
hurls them out into the cold hard world their scheme avoids? :-)
Rich Smith
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The snobbery of "Two Cultures" exists in the US scientific community too. I
first encountered it as a Chemistry undergrad, from professors who either
worked with government and industry or shunned all but pure academic
research, and tried to convince us theirs was the only ethical path.
As a lab manager in a government research facility I worked with both
hands-on and hands-off engineers, and again the theoretical, hands-off ones
could be somewhat intolerant of people who could be both. I also saw that in
Mensa, mainly from mathematicians. It was fun to watch the confusion after
someone who had binned me as a mere craftsman found I could and solve
engineering math problems mentally faster than they could with a calculator.
Personally I've been glad to stay in the lab, designing and building
hardware, and avoid boring meetings and report writing. Another lab tech
made a bumper sticker "Techs can do what engineers only dream of".
Not all great theoreticians kept their hands clean:
https://www.fromthegrapevine.com/inn...ator-invention