Theory and exPeriment
The culture of physics has a higher degree of separation bctween theory and experiment than
many other sciences. Since the twentieth century, most individual physicists have speciaiìzed in eithef
mcmücal Physics or physics. lo conm, almost on me successful theorists in biology and
chemistry (c-g- American quantum chemist and biochemist Linus Pauling) have also been
experimentalists, although this is changing as of late. Theorists seek to develop mathematical models that both agree with existing experiments and successfully predict ñlturc results, while cxperimentalìsts devise and perform experiments to test theoretical predictions and explore new phenomena Although theory and experiment are developed Separately, they are strongly dependent upon each other. Progress in physics frequently comes about when exprimentalists make a discovery that existing theories cannot explain, or when new theories generate
experimentally testable prediction, which inspire new experiments.