ABSTRACT
One day in an engineering thermodynamics class, the professor pulled out an Ann Landers column, titled “A Different Breed,” from that morning’s newspaper. He asked the seventy or so third-year students, “How many of you think this is reasonably accurate?” The column contained excerpts from letters, mostly from frustrated spouses, that portrayed engineers as technical, inflexible, and socially inept. The first provided a summary statement:
Dear Ann: This letter, my first ever to a columnist, was sparked by your column about the engineer’s wife who asked, “Are engineers really different?” The answer is ABSOLUTELY! My father was an engineer. My three brothers and four uncles are engineers. Engineers ARE a different breed. They are precise, logical, and great at problem solving, but they know very little about human interaction. My engineer husband makes a fine living, but when it comes to expressing emotions, on a scale of 10, he’s about a 4.
A wife in Houston