“These two types of science roles, simplifier and constructor, are both needed for creating the ecosystem of science. But why should it be that understanding the components (in simplifier fashion) does not open up the complete architecture of all science to us? The reason is that complete comprehension of one level of abstraction does not give enough understanding to help know what might happen when we combine components at this first level into a more complicated assembly. The rigidity of bricks does not make arches an inevitability.”

—The Secret Life of Science: How It Really Works and Why It Matters by Jeremy J. Baumberg