At the end of the day it all comes down to the mind.
Thought processes are the prime movers for any scientific endeavour.
You must first sense the problem, formulate the problem, formulate the solution. formulate the test equipment and only then can you put the theory into practice for verification.
I also suspect that when we view the theoretical physicists of today, very few are of the calibre of Einstein.
When Eddington sent his results confirming Einstein's theory of gravity bending light, Einstein was unmoved. When he showed the results to his colleagues, they jumped for joy. When asked why he was unmoved, Einstein replied "Because I knew the theory is correct".
