[andrewla]

I think because the path forward is so unclear and the field is so broad. Advances in material science come from left field -- no amount of playing around with bronze is going to make you spontaneously aware of the amazing properties of iron and steel.

We're constantly learning things in the semiconductor space, the battery space, and especially in ceramics, both industrial and superconductors, but almost all the initial breakthroughs came from curious people who had a "that's odd" moment when studying something unrelated.

Even the development of tin and copper working is suspected to be a side effect of better pottery ("hey, what are these little hard things in my kiln that came out of that strange rock") and iron working is suspected to be a side effect of better glass ("hey, what are those hard things in my furnace that came out of that strange rock").