On Fri, 9 Sep 2005, Sid9
Engineering as a career. 3968I'd be more convinced if you had compared engineers and nonengineers within the same school, or the same degree at different schools. Comparing...
Yeah. And, at one time in the past I was an inventor (as defined by being named as such on the patent that did get awarded); all part of the strategy of getting a patent, unlike being a scientist. To be a scientist and get reproducible data and get past peer review, you had to make sure your experiments worked AND write a methods & materials section that was accurate and full. To get a patent, you needed the absolute minimum of experimental data and nobody cared if the experiment was reproduceable, because the main idea of the patent was to get claims, as many claims as possible, as broadly worded as possible because the patent was just a licence to sue for infringement (which of course generates much more work for lawyers, court infrastructure, appeals, and post case chasing for collection, then fighting against bankrupcy by the losing party, and it can never end).
I've had my nose in law books (both lay and professional). The only thing lawyers are needed for is to find out about the things not in the books, the things going on as a matter of judge behavior in terms of what practices, trends, and findings are handed down. The rest of it, for the client, is a very expensive crap shoot. You pay, big time, whether you win or lose the case. And, I've been involved, indirectly, in litigation (including have a subpoena handed to me, actually after negotiations with the plaintif's lawyer, AND I made a couple hundred bucks on the deal, too).
