Every giant technological break-through throughout history has had a massive underpinning of understanding before ever achieving it. Historically, there have b

Every giant technological break-through throughout history has had a massive underpinning of understanding before ever achieving it. Historically, there have been a lot of cases where technological breakthroughs happened first and conceptual understanding followed later. The first industrially useful steam engine was invented in 1712 [1] but the classical thermodynamic relationship between heat and work was not developed until 1824 [2]. There was a vast chemical industry before scientists really understood what atoms were, how many distinct kinds of atoms there are, or how they form molecules. It was only 20th century quantum mechanics that properly describes something as simple as a hydrogen molecule. That didn't prevent chemists from developing complex synthetic chemicals [3]. It did mean that they had to rely more on guesses and experiments than on clear theory. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_steam_engine#Newcomen_%22atmospheric%22_engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_steam_engine#Ne... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflections_on_the_Motive_Power_of_Fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflections_on_the_Motive_Powe... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_dye#Chemical_synthesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_dye#Chemical_synthesis