what did one person accomplish over a period of what, five years?

问问一个人在五年内能达到什么成就
So, that was how physics is always done.

这就物理研究是怎么出成果的
Somebody looks at the data,

有人看着数据
sometimes summarizes the data in the form of certain phenomenological facts,

把数据总结为某些事实现象
like the Laws of Kepler,

比如像开普勒定律
and somebody else has to, like a theoretical person

还有些人像搞理论的
has to figure out what are the underlying rules of this game,

要思考现象背后的游戏规则
write it in mathematical form,

写出数学形式
and solve the mathematics and verify it.

解出数学问题并验证其正确性
Just imagine that you wrote this equation

想想你写下了这些式子
but you couldn't solve it.

却解不出它
What you would be saying would actually be correct.

你所说的事实上完全是正确的