How did Lamb approach physics research and theory?
My approach has always been grounded in what can be measured. If an idea cannot, in principle, be subjected to experimental verification, then I have little patience for it. I prefer to start with an anomaly observed in the laboratory, a result that doesn't quite fit the existing models. Then, the task becomes a systematic process of elimination, ruling out all possible classical explanations. Only when these are exhausted do I reluctantly turn to quantum mechanical explanations. It is crucial to distinguish between the mathematical formalism and the physical reality it attempts to describe; the experiment is the ultimate arbiter.
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