In my own field, x-ray crystallography, we used to work out the structure of minerals by various dodges which we never bothered to write down, we just used them. Then
Linus Pauling came along to the laboratory, saw what we were doing and wrote out what we now call
Pauling's Rules. We had all been using
Pauling's Rules for about three or four years before
Pauling told us what the rules were.
— J.D. Bernal