feenotype

With as much math as you have to take with an EE major, you may end up taking all the courses required for the minor just as requirements for your degree.

csprof2000

Engineers don't need to know proof-based math. To suggest that they should is akin to saying that mathematicians should have to take classes in applied digital logic design, applied dynamics, chemical engineering and engineering ergonomics. These are classes that your standard mathematician will never need. Case in point.

Ejhfast

^ I agree with your conclusion, but not your reasoning.

The argument is that Engineers ought to understand the proofs behind all the math that they apply. That is, they should not understand specific details without the foundations of those details.

What you are attributing to this argument is that Math majors then need to understand the applications of the principals they are studying. This is precisely the reverse of what was suggested, and that does not make it equivalent.

I can read Milton, therefore I can read != I can read, therefore I can read Milton.

Nonetheless, I ultimately agree with you, but on the more economic grounds of specialization.

csprof2000

I think you're reading a little too much into my post, Ejhfast. My main point WAS that engineers are specialized and mathematicians are specialized, and that's how it should remain. We shouldn't have mathematicians learning engineering and engineers learning proof-based mathematics. In an ideal world, everybody would have to learn everything. But nobody would agree to that, and besides, there's not enough time or resources. Specialization is good for society and it's good for individuals.