"Ahh, I've heard that one before, lass. Rest assured, whatever ya tastes, I can put it in a china cup."

(Imagine a calming yet jaunty Irish accent)

The dwarves possess marvellous technology that can power and move entire cities. But, they tend to keep it for themselves. They believe it makes them "uninvadable", and the rest of the world agrees, with an attitude of "you can keep it"

Basic sciences are taught to children in schools, or by homeschooling parents, but complex experimentation is left in the hands of the archmages and generally ignored by the public. We in the real world don't know exactly what researchers do, but we know the results, right?