Advancements in fine-grain measurements often precede new advancements which benefit from those measurements
Our ability to make finer-grain measurements (or new kinds of technology-enabled observations) in any given area tends to precede large advancements in our understanding of how that area (or tangentially related areas) works.
Examples
- Once we could accurately measure time, we learned the days get longer and shorter.
- Once we could see through microscopes, we discovered cells. Then the bacteria that confirmed germ theory.
- Once we could REALLY accurately measure time, we were able to verify the theory of relativity’s suggestion that time is relative to the observer, and set up our GPS system, which depends on nanosecond-levels of precision, and build integrated circuits that perform billions of opera
Source
Related
- GPS Satellites are Clocks - very accurate ways to measure time
- Relativity