...had an ongoing argument about the appicability of each other's discipline, and the Maths Prof decided to set up his colleague for a slight come-uppance. So, at lunch one day, he instructs his waitress "Tomorrow, I'm going to come back here with a friend, and I am going to ask you what the integral of x/dx is. I want you to reply 'one-half x-squared.' Got that? There'll be a ten-dollar tip in it for you, if you remember it rightly." The waitress rolls her eyes, but agrees; ten bucks is ten bucks, after all.
The next day, as promised, the Maths Prof again shows up at the diner, this time with his colleague from the College of Journalism in tow. As usual for them, they are debating the merits of each other's field of study.
"Now, look; I'm not saying Mathematics doesn't have its applications. I'm just saying it's rather esoteric; nobody utside of Academia has any real use for math beyond basic geometry and algebra, and most have no use for anything beyond simple arithmetic!" claimed the proffesor of Journalism.
"Au contraire!" the Maths Prof replied, and, siezing upon the opportunity, he flags over his waitress from the previous day and asks her "What is the integral of x/dx?"
"One-half x-squared," she replied, sounding rather bored with the whole thing. Then, walking away, she shot back over her shoulder, "Plus a constant!" |
