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Indeed. To emphasize '1)' you could mention most astro- related fields: astronomy, astrophysics, etc, which are almost purely observational.
by rotorblade 9y ago
Indeed. To emphasize '1)' you could mention most astro- related fields: astronomy, astrophysics, etc, which are almost purely observational.
- kobeya 9y agoObservational and experimental are not opposed attributes. For astronomers the universe is the laboratory, and that is fine. An astronomer can say "I predict binary black holes to emit gravitational waves of a certain sort" and then go and find a binary black hole system and see if it does. That is experimentation.
- rotorblade 9y agoI can possibly agree with that notion of experiment. My point, in the context of the discussion, was that just because we do not have a an idea for an experiment that would test string theory, in some definite way, does not exclude that there is some possible observation within reach.
- kobeya 9y agoSure, but it becomes troublesome when they stop bothering to look.