Science students have to spend much of their time learning how to do laboratory work, even if they intend to become theoretical, rather than experimental, scientists. It is important that they understand how experiments are performed and what the results mean. In science the validity of ideas is checked by experiments. If a new idea does not work in the laboratory, it must be discarded. If it does work, it is accepted, at least tentatively. In science, therefore, laboratory experiments are the touchstones for the acceptance or rejection of results. Mathematics is different. This is not to say...