The Brahe/Kepler => Newton connection is isomorphic (as regards the
gravitating solar system) to the Boyle/Charles/Gay-Lusaac => Joule
connection (as regards the ideal gas):
The experimental group:
1.) decided what to measure,
2.) performed the measurements, and
3.) reduced them to generalized empirical relations (empirical models)
among the measureables.
The theoreticians then
1) conceived a conceptual model of the underlying reality,
2) included already extant conceptual models (the Newtonian force
concept/atomism), and
3) showed the empirical relations to be the predicted behavior of this
conceptual model.