At some point they are smacked in the face with the fact that they are wrong and they will correct all their equations and discover that the new one does not work unless you tweak this one little part and so they will do that and they cycle begins again.
Thankfully they are not in the field of construction.
GEEZ!
As the father of a particle physicist whose research area is neutrinos, I cannot emphasize enough how completely erroneous your characterizations of the field are.
One does not earn a PhD in Physics by ‘making up the math’. Yes, they necessarily postulate theories and conduct experiments that may not ultimately succeed, but that is inherent in the process of discovering and/or quantifying the heretofore unknown.
The fact is that even when leading edge physics is not “successful”, the process, understanding and math invested in same often leads to great benefits in more “practical” areas of our lives. In fact, from medical imaging to modern video games, the groundwork was developed by physicists as they sought to understand and define the unknown.
For that matter, the field of construction is also built upon the principles and advancements made in the discipline of physics.