It is also worth noting that a lot of those mad-science projects that we look back at and consider potentially visionary were often stabs in the dark by scienti

It is also worth noting that a lot of those mad-science projects that we look back at and consider potentially visionary were often stabs in the dark by scientists who saw a ministry picking up their project as a way to avoid conscription into the army. They were seldom backed up by any real science and frequently had little chance of success, but they somewhat resemble something that was developed later so we assume the project leads knew what they were doing...