Two aspects spring to mind. First, we don't know how long ago this course was, so it's quite possible some of the story is either dated or a slightly misremembe

Two aspects spring to mind. First, we don't know how long ago this course was, so it's quite possible some of the story is either dated or a slightly misremembered anecdote for a physicist who was brought up with slide rules for his calculations. Second, the quote specifies "experimentally", which implies measurements limited to two orders of magnitude, i.e., measured vs theoretical. Alas, while I have a few slipsticks in the closet, I am not now nor have I ever been a physicist, so I could be totally wrong on this.