The Importance of Imaginary Numbers in Quantum Physics Modeling
Theoretical physicists build models of reality, some of which turn out to be right, while others do not. There are two kinds of model building: descriptive models based on available data and speculative models that try to predict the way of the world when data is scarce. A healthy scientific enterprise requires a dynamic balance between theory and experiment. Too much theory without data leads to a fog of models and idealizations that seldom have much to say about the world we live in, while too much data without theory leads to confusion. The better the balance between speculative thinking and data gathering, the healthier the science that comes out.