> "Compare and contrast these two experiments"

From the science side of the fence, I'd phrase that as: "Which of these two (or more) experimental approaches is more likely to lead to an accurate result?" And at its cutting edge, mathematics is an art form, which happens to be the language which best expresses scientific thought.

As for the employment of nuclear-physics graduates: It's an unfortunate fallacy that degree courses are specific job training exercises. What they're really for is training people how to think, and more importantly how to learn, for themselves.* Take my case --- I started out in maths, got a bachelor's in electronics and a PhD in a radioastronomy subject, found myself seduced by programming, and ended up doing systems administration for a living.

* Getting fresh new nuclear scientists is something of a side-effect.