In the case of superconductivity, the theory came 46 years after the discovery of the phenomenon.?

Question

Why do you think it took so long?

Answer 1

The theory is very complicated:

- First, quantum field theory had to be invented. But that was developed for studying particle physics, a completely different area of application and concept.
- Second, all sorts of new ideas, like the Cooper pair, had to be created.
- And finally, after it was invented and the Nobel Prizes handed out, the new high-temperature superconductors came along and blew out the theory anyway: They don't fit the BCS theory, even now.

Answer 2

I think nealjking makes good points, but in some sense I'm not sure it's even right to ask a question like that. Why not ask how come it's taken so long to come up with a theory of gravity? I mean, it was cavemen that discovered the basic phenomenon, but it took Newton and Einstein to really explain it, and there are still questions that are unanswered. I think science normally moves in relatively small steps, and once quantum mechanics was invented and people understood Bose-Einstein statistics it took a lot of small steps to get to BCS theory. Only once in a great while does a Newton or an Einstein come along and act as a great synthesist, most science is plodding.