Yes, current society and academia have it all wrong. Math is both celebrated and scorned. It's somehow the most applicable thing in the world and yet largely unemployable. People can't imagine a mathematician can do anything, but know you need it to do most everything.
The world leaders during WW2 recognized this - basically, when critical work needed to be done, they knew whom they needed and roped in a large number of the leading "dreamers/thinkers" of the time to work on the Manhattan Project.
The thing that saddens me is that it is often conflict and animosity that awaken this recognition - other examples include the Cold War, artillery calculations in WW1, etc.
