2013-01-20
Original: 2013-01-20 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (header banner: IN MATHEMATICS)
A gray-haired professor with glasses sits at a desk holding a sheet of paper, speaking to a blond student seen from behind.
Professor: "This isn't a proof. You can't have a whole step that's just 'Mathematica said so.'"
Panel 2 (header banner: IN PHYSICS)
A bearded, balding professor with glasses sits at a desk holding a sheet of paper, speaking to a dark-haired student seen from behind.
Professor: "What a waste. Half of this proof could be replaced by 'Mathematica said so.'"
Votey:
(header banner: BIOLOGY)
A person holds a sheet of paper, recoiling in alarm.
Person: "Aah! There are numbers on this paper!"
Cartoonist's note at bottom: "* Cartoonist's note: BURN"
A gray-haired professor with glasses sits at a desk holding a sheet of paper, speaking to a blond student seen from behind.
Professor: "This isn't a proof. You can't have a whole step that's just 'Mathematica said so.'"
Panel 2 (header banner: IN PHYSICS)
A bearded, balding professor with glasses sits at a desk holding a sheet of paper, speaking to a dark-haired student seen from behind.
Professor: "What a waste. Half of this proof could be replaced by 'Mathematica said so.'"
Votey:
(header banner: BIOLOGY)
A person holds a sheet of paper, recoiling in alarm.
Person: "Aah! There are numbers on this paper!"
Cartoonist's note at bottom: "* Cartoonist's note: BURN"
Alt text
A two-panel SMBC comic contrasting academic fields. Panel 1, labeled IN MATHEMATICS: a gray-haired professor with glasses sits at a desk reading a paper and tells a blond student, "This isn't a proof. You can't have a whole step that's just 'Mathematica said so.'" Panel 2, labeled IN PHYSICS: a bearded professor reads a paper and tells a student, "What a waste. Half of this proof could be replaced by 'Mathematica said so.'" The joke: math demands rigor, physics happily defers to the software. Votey (aftercomic) labeled BIOLOGY: a person clutches a paper in horror, shouting "Aah! There are numbers on this paper!" Below, the cartoonist's note reads "BURN," acknowledging the dig at biologists' supposed math-aversion.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.