This is where classes that teach the HISTORY of science and how discoveries were made can be so valuable. I was recently reading Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and he does an excellent job of explaining how each discovery led into the next. He also describes how some discoveries just took a long time because either the apparatus to make that discovery didn't exist yet or the right person didn't have the right idea.

As a personal example, in a college "History of Economics" class, the professor described the "Diamond/Water Paradox". Prior to understanding how the intersection of supply and demand could lead to a market price, very smart people were perplexed how diamonds, which were rare but basically useless, were so expensive but water, a critical element to life, was so cheap.

In hindsight, it all seems so obvious but explaining this history of the concept helps add an intuitive understanding of "it's not just what an item does but how available it is that helps define the price".