And in the 80s they felt confident what they knew was a heck of a lot more than what was known in the 40s, probably would even have argued it was much more settled science compared to the anecdote and conjecture of yore.
Personally I am of the opinion that for all our knowledge there is still vastly more we don’t know than do, and that we should always try to be mindful of possible ignorance and “of-the-time-ness” of our knowledge in all things.