Discoveries and inventions are pivotal and act as an impetus to move our lives forward. From the discovery of fire to the invention of nanotechnology, people have come so far in comprehending and nature with their inquisitive nature. However, not all these discoveries / creations were anticipated, even by the people who made them possible. Major and breakthrough inventions we savour today are a result of curious people stumbling upon an oddity in their experiments. In my opinion, though some seminal creations were definitely a result of accidents, the number of such works is fathomable. While unwittingly discovering something leads to some new complexities to be solved or even sometimes, new fields of study, it is not germane to most of the scientific discoveries which are usually deliberate.
When a person comes across an anomaly, it is generally a human's nature to be whetted by something abnormal. For instance, when early man first discovered fire, he does not know the intricacies of it, yet, he was confounded that fire can be sparked by the mere abrasion of rocks. He further explored the uses of fire -- hunting animals and cooking meat. This discovery has been salutary and is considered revolutionary in stone age. To cite a modern example, the invention of radioactivity was a result of an accident by a scientist. He was experimenting on a uranium rock, and when the weather grew gloomy and it started raining, he decided to store the uranium rock in a closet and left it undisturbed for a few days. When he returned to it, he found fog in the vicinity of uranium rock -- the inception of the concept of radioactivity. He was curious and posited that the rays emitted from the rock caused the fog, leading to intense research on radioactivity by the Curie couple. Sometimes, weather can also be the cause of serendipity to cardinal discoveries in history!
Another famous example is that of Coca Cola's. The founder of the company used to take coca leaves and cola nuts when he used was etiolated with head ache. His assistant, once conflated both the ingredients into a carbonated liquid and the result is history. Who would have guessed a person's headache could lead to a gigantic empire around the world? Newton would never have developed physics so much, had he not sat under an apple tree.
History evinces such breakthroughs and people often idolize such discoveries and creations. However, one should not forget the fact that many rewarding theories in science are a result of toiling away of many scientists. Albert Einstein, with his sheer determination and acuity, reached the horizons of science where most people, even today, find it difficult to fathom. This is not predicated on luck, rather, the theory of relativity or the photoelectric effect are results of perceiving things in a different way and being consistently curious. We would never have savoured travelling through air, if not for the efforts put the the Wright brothers and their "definitive goal" to make travel faster and easier. This heralds that, though some influential works are a result of acciedents, the same cannot be generalized to many creations we perceive today.
Holistically, only a measurable number of successful acciendental experiments can be observed in history. Most theories we see today are a result of a fixed goal and the work towards it, rather than coming across aberrations in experiments. Though these aberrations instigate our curiosity, it is not often that they lead to something new and ground breaking.
Discoveries
and inventions are pivotal and act as an impetus to
move
our
lives
forward. From the
discovery
of
fire
to the invention of nanotechnology,
people
have
come
so
far in comprehending and nature with their inquisitive nature.
However
, not all these
discoveries
/
creations
were anticipated
, even by the
people
who made them possible. Major and breakthrough inventions we
savour
today
are a
result
of curious
people
stumbling upon an oddity in their experiments. In my opinion, though
some
seminal
creations
were definitely a
result
of accidents, the number of such works is fathomable. While
unwittingly
discovering something leads to
some
new complexities to
be solved
or even
sometimes
, new fields of study, it is not germane to most of the scientific
discoveries
which are
usually
deliberate.
When a person
comes
across an anomaly, it is
generally
a human's nature to
be whetted
by something abnormal.
For instance
, when early
man
first
discovered
fire
, he does not know the intricacies of it,
yet
, he
was confounded
that
fire
can
be sparked
by the mere abrasion of
rocks
. He
further
explored the
uses
of
fire
-- hunting animals and cooking meat. This
discovery
has been salutary and
is considered
revolutionary in
stone age
. To cite a modern example, the invention of radioactivity was a
result
of an accident by a scientist. He was experimenting on a uranium
rock
, and when the weather grew gloomy and it
started
raining, he decided to store the uranium
rock
in a closet and
left
it undisturbed for a few days. When he returned to it, he found fog in the vicinity of uranium
rock
-- the inception of the concept of radioactivity. He was curious and posited that the rays emitted from the
rock
caused the fog, leading to intense research on radioactivity by the Curie couple.
Sometimes
, weather can
also
be the cause of serendipity to cardinal
discoveries
in history!
Another
famous
example is that of Coca Cola's. The founder of the
company
used
to take coca
leaves
and cola nuts when he
used
was etiolated
with head ache. His assistant, once conflated both the ingredients into a carbonated liquid and the
result
is history. Who would have guessed a person's headache could lead to a gigantic empire around the world? Newton would never have developed physics
so
much, had he not sat under an apple tree.
History evinces such breakthroughs and
people
often
idolize such
discoveries
and
creations
.
However
, one should not forget the fact that
many
rewarding theories in science are a
result
of toiling away of
many
scientists. Albert Einstein, with his sheer determination and acuity, reached the horizons of science where most
people
, even
today
, find it difficult to fathom. This is not predicated on luck,
rather
, the theory of relativity or the photoelectric effect are
results
of perceiving things in a
different
way and being
consistently
curious. We would never have
savoured
travelling through air, if not for the efforts put
the the
Wright brothers and their
"
definitive goal
"
to
make
travel faster and easier. This heralds that, though
some
influential works are a
result
of
acciedents
, the same cannot
be generalized
to
many
creations
we perceive
today
.
Holistically
,
only
a measurable number of successful
acciendental
experiments can
be observed
in history. Most theories we
see
today
are a
result
of a
fixed
goal and the work towards it,
rather
than coming across aberrations in experiments. Though these aberrations instigate our curiosity, it is not
often
that they lead to something new and ground breaking.