Posted: Jul 15, 2011 8:37 am
One important point:
Theories actually do tend to get simpler over time, although it doesn't always seem that way, not least because, as the theories get simpler, the maths required to described them gets ever more complicated. As an example, the curvature of spacetime in relativity is actually a lot simpler in principle than action at a distance. Atomic physics gives an even starker example. What were thought to be a whole range of fundamental constituents (atoms) turned out to be composed of even simpler constituents (neutrons, protons, etc), and those turned out to be made of even simpler constituents (quarks). It may even be that those, and all other particles, are made of simpler constituents still (strings/branes).
Of course, the science itself gets ever more complex, because it also includes the interactions of those constituents and, as the constituents get simpler, the interactions tend toward complexity, but the core principles tend toward simplicity, at least in some sense.
Theories actually do tend to get simpler over time, although it doesn't always seem that way, not least because, as the theories get simpler, the maths required to described them gets ever more complicated. As an example, the curvature of spacetime in relativity is actually a lot simpler in principle than action at a distance. Atomic physics gives an even starker example. What were thought to be a whole range of fundamental constituents (atoms) turned out to be composed of even simpler constituents (neutrons, protons, etc), and those turned out to be made of even simpler constituents (quarks). It may even be that those, and all other particles, are made of simpler constituents still (strings/branes).
Of course, the science itself gets ever more complex, because it also includes the interactions of those constituents and, as the constituents get simpler, the interactions tend toward complexity, but the core principles tend toward simplicity, at least in some sense.