Gotcha on the math thing. My W was a math major (actually graduated 4th in her class at a top-25 university), but she leaned more toward the actuarial side. More practical than the theoretical stuff.
As I am in astrophysics, most of my stuff isn't very practical ... today. I like to tell myself that some future traveler between the stars will need some formula that I derived.
A man walks into a theoretical mathematician's office and notices him sitting there in the "thinker's" pose. He starts to speak, but the mathematician interrupts him saying "don't bother me, I'm working." Ummm ... that was a joke ... sort of.
"Recollect me darlin, raise me to your lips, two undernourished egos, four rotating hips"
Ummm ... that was a joke ... sort of. 