MM tried to eliminate all noise from their measurements to find the l.aether, but never really got it perfect. Good enough for gub'mint work, I guess. Meanwhile, the mathematicians did love their statistical methods and dimensional re-gaging. Today, we have String Theories, etc.: overcomplications of the mathematics to try and model the opportunistic randomness of Natural phenomena without doing the gymnastics required to fit it all into the 3 dimensions Descartes defined as necessary for the math. Time became deus ex machina: so be it. We don't have much left anyway. If someone is going to invent a time machine (besides money), they had better get to it. Opportunities to go back and stop consumerism are getting fewer by the minute. As the bumper sticker used to say, "Shit happens, then you die."

"We apologize for the inconvenience." -God