Three engineering students were given an assignment:
You have a seven-pound boneless beef roast at room temperature of 75°. How long would it take to raise the center of the roast to 170° in a 350° oven?
The first student, being of a theoretical mind, looked up the specific gravity of beef, assumed the thermal tranmittance to be about 95% that of water, calculated the appropriate voulme, and came up with a solution of aproximately 2 hours, 20 minutes.
The second student, being more of the hands-on type, went out and bought a seven-pound roast and a meat thermometer, set his oven to 350°, and timed how long it took for the inside of the roast to reach 170°. About 2 hours and 20 minutes later, he wrote up his results while eating a medium rare roast beef sandwich.
The third student, being one who never does any more than is abbsolutely necessary, called his mother and asked her the question. She replied, "Oh, about 20 minutes per pound."
All three students arrived at the same answer. The question is, however, which student would make the best enginerer?
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Number three. Never reinvent the wheel.
