•    Condensed matter physics—Transistors and integrated
circuits, computers, fiber optics, materials like liquid
crystals (e.g., liquid-crystal displays), polymers,
superconducting technology and materials; and  •    Modern
physics research—Mining large data sets, the World Wide Web.
This vast amount of understanding resulted from a new way of
thinking about natural phenomena—the scientific method—in which
hypotheses are expressed in a precise, generally mathematical,
form that enables exact predictions; then testing these
hypotheses and generally exploring nature with insightful and
precise experiments; and then refining those hypotheses or, when
merited, replacing them with new ones. Among the fruits of this
process is the ability to make models of natural processes that
predict the behavior of things in advance, e.g., the number of
looms that can be powered by a particular waterfall, the effect
of cross-connections on a polymer or a highway system, the
takeoff speed of an airplane, and so on.  The beauty