I was an undergraduate math major
Me too. Minors in chemistry and physics. I've also taken two graduate math classes. Good times.
I think v0031's comment is interesting. All the Chinese (and Russian and some other foreign) students I've known were really good at math, in theory, but not at using any instruments. I think that at least in China this may be changing. With the rise in fortunes, and the attendant applications of technology, there may very well be a generation better suited to formulate scientific investigations. It's not all just abstract creativity, and familiarity with existing tools goes a long way toward formulating an experiment.
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