> no modern scientist sets out gathering observations without any pre-existing theory in his head. Or without the intent to shape a new theory, a new, testable

> no modern scientist sets out gathering observations without any pre-existing theory in his head. Or without the intent to shape a new theory, a new, testable inductive generalization, as when Einstein shaped special relativity. That's my favorite example because it happened in a theory vacuum, no pun intended. There must be a theory to inform the research, or the research must lead to a testable theory, or both.