…professor into a room that has a sink and faucet，an empty pan on the counter，a self striking wooden match，and a gas stove and ask him how he would boil the water.

He replied: ‟I’d take the pan to the sink，fill it with water from the faucet，place it on the stove，light the stove with the match and wait for the water to boil”.

They then bring the mathematics professor into an identical room and give him the same task，to which he gives exactly the same answer as the physics professor. Unable to break the tie they decide to give them one more test.

They bring the physics professor into the same scenario except this time the pan is already full of water and they ask him to describe how he would boil water. He answers ‟I’d place the pan of water on the stove，light it with the match，and wait for the water to boil”. They then bring in the mathematics professor and give him the same new task to which he replies:

‟That’s easy I’d just take the pan to the sink and pour it out thereby reducing it to a problem I had already solved”