"Predictions are nice if you can make them. But the essence of science lies in explanation, laying the bare fundamental mechanisms of nature." -- M. Mitchell Waldrop
I agree. However, how can the fundamental mechanisms of Nature be explained if we do not confront theories with observation and experimentation? Physics is a fortunate field because the beauty of the mathematics is a good indicator of whether a certain theory is correct or not (excluding the Standard Model ;-) but other fields of the Natural Sciences cannot afford that luxury. I don't want to start discussing the Philosophy of Science because I am not qualified for that...