how does one think like an engineer? like how do they look at problems and try to solve them like math problems and other things in life? :confused:

There ARE differences in the way physicists (& scientists in general) think and how engineers think but its far too late in the night here for me to recall :) Somebody else will explain it for u.

All engineers seem to be more lazy than the scientists I know. We don't do math for the fun of it, but because it solves a problem we need to solve.

I'd think that they should be well rounded in math, that is to say they should take as many math courses as they can dealing with different types of math.

But learning it and wanting to use it are two different things. Complicated math is basically a last resort, hence the big books of tables we have.

But learning it and wanting to use it are two different things. Complicated math is basically a last resort, hence the big books of tables we have.Absolutely. Engineering is all about dealing with the imperfections, nonlinearities, and generally nonideal consequences of technology. I have found that this is a totally different spirit than science. For instance, engineers prefer tables whereas scientists prefer derivations. Engineers should stay within the specs whereas scientists should push the limits of precedence and understanding.

I've found that engineers tend to look at a problem to try and find a solution to it, whereas physicists and mathematicians tend to look at the problem as an interesting example of something bigger.

Engineers also seem to solve just what they have to and explore less, and they tend to use a lot less math in solving what they do (just copying the answer that somebody else found).

I'd say physicists discover problems and solutions that engineers twenty years down the line will plug numbers into and get values to use when they build something with it.