In a sense, yes. There was no reason to invoke the idea of "electron" until
observations required that a new model be incorporated into the corpus.
I'd note that in particular the history of "the electron" is pretty
interesting. The particle we know and love is not very old (maybe a decade or
so) as a concept...what we mean when we say "electron" has changed and
continues to, with time.
Objective reality exists. The mind subdivides and generalizes. The concept of
the "electron" is part of this endeavor. The objects to which we are refering
are likely unchanging...but what characteristics we ascribe to them and what
predictions we make about them change often.
Reed
konsler@ascat.harvard.edu