I think the issue here is that it neglects how much overlap there was between being a Physicist and Mathematician in the 1600s-1900. I don't think anyone would

I think the issue here is that it neglects how much overlap there was between being a Physicist and Mathematician in the 1600s-1900. I don't think anyone would say Newton, Gauss, Euler, Lagrange, etc. were not mathematicians and physicists. Very often Astronomy, Optics, Mathematics, etc. were just part of the same fields. Now we have more delineation. And even with mathematics and science, you still need trial and error and engineering to actually make machines.