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Recent examples of discovering chemical pathways in the atmosphere are used to answer the slightly provocative question of the title. Heterogeneous transformation of isoprene and products of its gas phase oxidation illustrate an explicit approach to undiscovered chemistry, which begins with detecting components in atmospheric samples collected in the field. Aqueous-phase transformation of isoprene and the role sulfate radicals play in transformation of dimethylsulfide present the implicit approach, which begins with intuitive choice of reactions to be studied in a laboratory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]