Hi Steemians,
Have you all heard of the term SERENDIPITY? In Science, it is a discovery of something when they are actually looking for something else. Confusing? It is like looking for a cactus for potable water in a desert then you stumbled upon an oasis. It is looking for rubies in a pit then you find a diamond. It is attempting to cook a dish, guided by a recipe book, but then you achieved a much tastier one when you spilled more soy sauce.
The discoveries brought about by Serendipity ranges from minor,with less importance to major, that actually helped shaped human lives and society. You could coin it as a fortunate accident when we deem accidents to be disasters.
I'm sure you want proof to what I'm saying so here it is....
The most common discovery, I think, that is by accident is PENNICILIN. You know why this is common? This discovery is a breakthrough. I think this also helped changed the course of medical science. It started the antibiotic and therapeutic era. Yes, those tablets or solvents that you ingest or medicines that you apply on bruises and wounds to kill harmful bacteria are antibiotics.
Before its discovery, there was no effective treatment for infections. These ailments include pneumonia, gonorrhea or rheumatic fever. People, with blood poisoning contracted from a cut or a scratch, are crowding in hospitals and doctors could do little for them. They just hope and wait. Tragic isn't it?
WHY SERENDIPITY?
Dr. Alexander Fleming entered into his laboratory workstation with different petri-dishes. As he was a scientist, he is into research and experiment so his petri-dishes(saucer-like laboratory apparatus) contain different strains of harmful bacteria. While sorting through the petri-dishes, he accidentally dropped a "mold" into one of the dishes. He then noticed that the area where the mold was dropped zoned out the bacteria. In comparison, it is like, Shaquille Oneal raging to the basket where it was guarded by Snow White's seven dwarves. I hope you got my joke. LOL
He then concluded that the mold juice is capable of killing the harmful bacteria, inhibiting its growth and then identified it as rare strain of molds called Penicillium notatum - where it got its name.
DID THE STORY AMAZE YOU? I HAVE MORE
KING & GOLDEN CROWN
One of the oldest discoveries by chance was the that of Archimedes. Hundreds of years ago, measurement of length, weight, height, volume, area and perimeter was easy if it was a perfect shape. I assume it was a guessing game for irregular shapes and objects.
The king wanted a golden crown. He lent gold to a goldsmith to then make it. Of course, he wants to make sure that the crown is indeed made from pure gold and not mixed with other substances. When the crown was finished, he then let Archimedes use his prowess to determine. Archimedes then was left with a dilemma. He then went home trying to analyze on how he can derive a solution for the King's problem. He filled his tub full and took a bath.
Yes. my friends, that bath changed Archimedes' life and history forever. He then realized that water was flowing out of his tub once he immersed his body into it. Connection? The amount of water displaced is then the volume of his body when soaked in the tub. He was allegedly remembered saying "Eureka" twice and was so excited with the discovery that he ran into the cities naked.
Pure gold is denser than most of the metals. Using this information, the water that will be displaced by pure gold should be more than that of an impure one. Using the comparison, they were able to find out that the goldsmith added silver of the same weight of gold to the crown. We don't know what happened to that smith. HAHA
WAR DISCOVERY
It was the brink of World War II. The Americans were focused on winning it. Raytheon was a company where Percy Spencer worked to improve radar technology for allied forces. Yes, Spencer was an engineer, a valued and celebrated one. He was said to be a problem solver. He developed a detonation system for missiles that would explode before hitting the mark or target. Crafty, isn't he?
Spencer always carries a peanut cluster bar for snacks. At that time, he was trying to improve the power level of magnetrons. Magnetrons are like electric whistles but uses waves instead of vibrating sounds. When he was testing these magnetrons, he accidentally placed his hand in his pocket and the chocolate melted. It was a shocking discovery! It is then the invention of the MICROWAVE OVEN!
There are still a lot of scientific serendipities. We have nylon, post-it notes and many more. They were all discovered when the scientists and investors were looking for something else.
Today, there are a lot of shocking discoveries by accident. It is not just in the field of science but so much more. The opportunities brought about by these discoveries are endless. They changed the course of human history. This just describes how powerful the human mind is and what is capable of.*
DID YOU EXPERIENCE A MOMENT OF AWE BECAUSE YOU STUMBLED UPON SOMETHING BY ACCIDENT?
Kindly comment your thoughts.