Insight into the methodology of scientific inquiry developed slowly over the preceding century. At issue was the crucial difference between the confirmation of empirical statistical hypotheses, a well-understood subject, and the empirical support for foundational scientific theories. In retrospect, the seminal ideas of the physicist-philosopher Hermann Weyl led, through a series of philosophical debates, to a view of empirical grounding of models and theories. This view disentangles the relation between confirmation and evidential support, and highlights the conditions of practical applicability.