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Is there a word for a tool, or concept, that allows you to see the reality behind a certain physical phenomenon, or a tool that exposes the behind-the-scenes details? For example, backstage would be one of such words.

A totally made up word is perfectly fine!

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Note that phenomena is the (Greek) plural of phenomenon. – Cerberus Sep 13 '11 at 0:05

7 Answers

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Trying to be creative, such a tool might be called an "endoscope".

Since such a tool elucidates, one could coin "elucigen" as something that generates elucidation.

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Thank you for your suggestions. – de55d3a0-d9f0 Sep 12 '11 at 23:16
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You could say that those tools are revelatory:

making people aware of something that they did not know before
a revelatory insight

A related word is enlightening.

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Sounds very interesting. – de55d3a0-d9f0 Sep 12 '11 at 20:04
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Leaving aside some arcane philosophical considerations, a scientific explanation is precisely the tool that allows us to see what is behind the natural pheonomena.

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sorry doesn't fit the context – de55d3a0-d9f0 Sep 12 '11 at 20:14
What is the context, exactly? – Otavio Macedo Sep 12 '11 at 20:16
the context isn't science or research. it's something more metaphysical or playful. – de55d3a0-d9f0 Sep 12 '11 at 20:18
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The tool, if there is one, is used to unmask. Maybe you could call it The Unmask tool or, shorter still, The Unmasker.

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Very interesting, this is the sort of stuff I'm looking for. – de55d3a0-d9f0 Sep 12 '11 at 20:08
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The term debunk works, though it is typically used when the truth behind a phenomenon contradicts the supernatural/over-the-top explanation previously given.

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You can get some ideas reading the introduction from David Hilbert's article stating some 23 challenging problems in mathematics. He says:

Who of us would not be glad to lift the veil behind which the future lies hidden; to cast a glance at the next advances of our science and at the secrets of its development during future centuries?.

So you can speak of a tool/method/theory that helps us lift the veil behind behind which the truth about physical phenomena lies hidden. Equivalently you may use the verb unveil or unravel. You can talk about God's blueprint when we determined the laws of nature and so on and so forth (You can improvise).

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Your question reminds me of the man behind the curtain from the Wizard of Oz. So if your context is silly (as you mentioned in a comment), you could use terms like curtain-lifter, curtain-smasher, etc.

You might also refer to 'going backstage' as:

  • lifting the veil
  • seeing nuts and bolts / gears / guts

Using those phrases, you can make up words like deveiler or deconstructor.

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Yes, that's exactly the stuff I'm looking for. Now I wish I could check multiple accepted answers. – de55d3a0-d9f0 Sep 12 '11 at 23:13

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