Try the last century or more!Rum wrote:but the last decade or two seem to deepen the mysteries rather than shed light on them to my way of thinking.
The "standard model" (as usually defined) refers to particle physics and has been undergoing frenetic revision ever since Rutherford showed there was something smaller than an atom! Protons and Neutrons were thought to be fundamental particles not so very long ago. More and more quarks and fermions have been added since its first formation. The Higgs finally took its seat only last year and there are more and more theoretical maybe-particles queueing up to get a moment in the spotlight!
Likewise, the standard model of cosmology has been similarly revised.
Oh, and the standard model of heredity - remember "junk DNA"?
And the standard model of Biology which once had fungi as a sub-phylum of plants and used to have a group called Coelacanths.
And the standard model of economics that had this wonderful panacea called the "trickle-down effect"!
To some, this constant revision is a flaw in science. A proof that it was never right in the first place. To others, myself included, it is the core strength of science and a huge part of its beauty.