Electron Spin - A good story of how theoretical science & research (physics) evolves

 If you've had high school chemistry, likely you've been introduced to the 4 quantum numbers necessary to understand the structure of the periodic table of elements. One of those four numbers is the "spin" of the electron. Spin has traditionally been thought of in a literal sense, as if every electron spins around some axis like a top. But it is not quite that simple. 

If you are interested in theoretical work, a good Scientific American historical article about electronic spin shows how this work is often done, where a lot of what ifs are asked and explored to try and make sense out of a concept or experimental result or physical observation. It often takes years with many brilliant people thinking about a particular phenomenon, before consensus arises among theorists, and hopefully from that process comes predictions that can be tested experimentally. Already something like spin is showing promise as a contender for quantum computing, and as the article discusses, our universe would not be our universe without electronic spin!