我会说是为了一张图片翻译的文章么。。。

What are the main differences between physicists and engineers?

物理学家和工程师的主要区别在哪？

原文地址：https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-main-differences-between-physicists-and-engineers

Franklin Veaux

I really like this image. Yes, it's silly, but the scientists and the engineers I know recognize a kernel of truth in it.
我真的很喜欢这张图片。没错这看起来有点傻，但确实能从其中反映我认知中的科学与工程的核心。

Physicists are generally concerned with learning how the universe operates. They're not necessarily concerned with practical applications of that knowledge. The physicists I know use engineering to build apparatuses and perform experiments (I know a low-temperature physicist who, when people ask what he does for a living, says "oh, I'm a plumber," because a lot of his job involves designing and building gizmos with lots of complicated plumbing for liquid helium), but at the end of the day their goal is not to build things. That's a means to an end. They're after knowledge.
物理学家通常关注和认知宇宙运行的原理。他们通常不关注这些知识在生活实践中的运用。我理解的物理学家会制造一些设备来做实验（我认识一个低温物理学家，当有人问他是干什么的时候，他回答道：我是个水管工，因为他的工作要和很多专门用来盛放液态氦的水管打交道），但最后他们的目的并不是为了制造某些东西。制造只是一种手段，最终他们是为了追寻知识。

Engineers are generally concerned with designing and/or making things that work. The engineers I know use a knowledge of physics to do so, but at the end of the day, their goal is not to probe the rules by which the universe operates. Knowledge of physics is a means to an end. They're after creating something that works.
工程师通常关注设计或者让东西运转起来。我理解的工程师同样知道某些方面的物理知识来用于工作，但是最终他们的目的并不是为了探寻宇宙运行的某些法则。物理知识是完成工作的一种手段，他们追求的是发明能使用的物品。