As legend has it, one day in 2737 B.C. the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung was boiling drinking water over an open fire, believing that those who drank boiled water were healthier. Some leaves from a nearby Camellia sinensis plant floated into the pot. The emperor drank the mixture and declared it gave one "vigor of body, contentment of mind, and determination of purpose."
And that very potion- which is called TEA- today is second only to water in worldwide consumption. The Emperor would never have imagined the impact of his accidental discovery. But surprisingly, such accidents do happen with everybody – and we call them as Serendipity!
The origin of word serendipity is equally amusing. It is related to a famous folk tale “The three princesses of Serendip” in which the charming ladies in Serendip (today’s Sri Lanka
Another interesting anecdote about serendipity is the Vulcanization of Rubber, a Charles Goodyear discovery. Working with his brother in a rubber factory in 1839, Goodyear was busy ascertaining the effect of heat on rubber. To his surprise, he found that in presence of boiling sulfur, the rubber did not melt at any heat ever so great, but always charred. He carried out a series of systematic experiments to find the right conditions for curing rubber. Thus was discovered the method to make rubber harder, much more durable and also more resistant to chemical attack. But there is another twist in the tale- Goodyear never bothered about the importance of his innovation till another scientist Thomas Hancock filed a patent for same discovery in1844. Goodyear also filed the patent case two months later, but it was Hancock who won the patent race.
How can a field as enigmatic as Biotechnology can remain untouched by serendipity? Sir Alexander Fleming, infamous for his unconventional (and rather untidy) way of experimenting, was working with some bacteria in1922. Meanwhile he was suffering with cold and running nose but continued his lab work. And one day- thanks to his carelessness, he sneezed on the bacterial culture. But to his astonishment, he found that the fluid from his nose killed the bacteria. He went ahead to isolate Lysozyme which actually was responsible for this phenomenon. The same researcher discovered the first antibiotic Penicillin seven years later, again serendipitously!
One can find many such discoveries in science which can be considered sheer fortune. Right from Sir Isaac Newton who watched a falling apple and translated it to Gravity, fortune has always helped the development of science. There are innumerous evidences- Karry Mullis discovered Polymerase chain reaction, Seeback uncovered thermoelectric effect, Archimedes ran on the roads of Rome shouting ‘Eureka
All the incidents quoted above had significant amount of fortune accompanied with careful observation, rational thinking and a lot of perseverance. After all Newton Newton
A paradox lies close to the heart of scientific discovery. If you know just what you are looking for, finding it can hardly count as a discovery, since it was fully anticipated. But if, on the other hand, you have no notion of what you are looking for, you cannot know when you have found it, and discovery, as such, is out of the question. To brief it up, the lady luck keeps smiling at you, always as ever. Just go and capture the smile…!
