 Metallurgists, as all craftsmen and artisans, lacked the methodical intellectual background but they were the pioneers of causal thinking , based on empirical observation and experimentation (Zilsel 2000).
<meaning-changed>  Metallurgists, as all craftsmen and artisans, lacked the methodical intellectual background but they were the pioneers of causal thinking , based on empirical observation and experimentation (Zilsel 2000).
 Metallurgists, as all craftsmen and artisans, almost always lacked the formal education that would inform a methodical intellectual background but they were the pioneers of causal thinking , based on empirical observation and experimentation (Zilsel 2000).