Physicists like to retroactively believe that our understanding of physical phenomena preceded the implementation of uses of those phenomena, when the reality is that physics has always come in to clean up after the engineers. There are some rare exceptions, but usually the reason that scientific progress can be made in an area is that the equipment to perform experiments has been commoditized sufficiently by engineering demand for it.
We had semiconductors and superconductors before we understood how they worked -- on both cases arguably we still don't completely understand the phenomena. Things like the dynamo and the electric motor were invented by practice and later explained by scientists, not derived from first principles. Steam engines and pumps were invented before we had the physics to describe how they worked.
We had semiconductors and superconductors before we understood how they worked -- on both cases arguably we still don't completely understand the phenomena. Things like the dynamo and the electric motor were invented by practice and later explained by scientists, not derived from first principles. Steam engines and pumps were invented before we had the physics to describe how they worked.