Serendipity

For other uses, see Serendipity (disambiguation).

Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely. The word derives from an old Persian fairy tale and was coined by Horace Walpole on 28 January 1754 in a letter he wrote to his friend Horace Mann (not the same man as the famed American educator), an Englishman then living in Florence. The letter read,

"It was once when I read a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of: for instance, one of them discovered that a mule blind of the right eye had travelled the same road lately, because the grass was eaten only on the left side, where it was worse than on the right—now do you understand serendipity? One of the most remarkable instances of this accidental sagacity (for you must observe that no discovery of a thing you are looking for, comes under this description) was of my Lord Shaftsbury, who happening to dine at Lord Chancellor Clarendon's, found out the marriage of the Duke of York and Mrs. Hyde, by the respect with which her mother treated her at table."

The role of serendipity in science and technology

One aspect of Walpole's original definition of serendipity that is often missed in modern discussions of the word is the "sagacity" of being able to link together apparently innocuous facts to come to a valuable conclusion. Thus, while some scientists and inventors are reluctant about reporting accidental discoveries, others openly admit its role; in fact serendipity is a major component of scientific discoveries and inventions. According to M.K. Stoskopf [1], it should be recognized that serendipitous discoveries are of significant value in the advancement of science and often present the foundation for important intellectual leaps of understanding.".

The amount of contribution of serendipitous discoveries varies extensively among the several scientific disciplines. Pharmacology and chemistry are probably the fields where serendipity is more common.

Most authors who have studied scientific serendipity both in a historical, as well as in an epistemological point of view, agree that a prepared and open mind is required on the part of the scientist or inventor to detect the importance of information revealed accidentally. This is the reason why most of the related accidental discoveries occur in the field of specialization of the scientist. About this, Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered LSD properties by accidentally ingesting it at his lab, wrote:

"It is true that my discovery of LSD was a chance discovery, but it was the outcome of planned experiments and these experiments took place in the framework of systematic pharmaceutical, chemical research. It could better be described as serendipity."

The French scientist Louis Pasteur also famously said that "in the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind." (Cf. a maxim of Brian Eno's: "Luck is being ready.")

History, of course, does not record accidental exposures of information which could have resulted in a new discovery, and we are justified in suspecting that they are many. There are several examples of this, however, and prejudice of preformed concepts are probably the largest obstacle. See for example [2] for a case where this happened (the rejection of an accidental discovery in the field of self-stimulation of the brain in humans)

Examples of serendipity in science and technology

Chemistry

• Gelignite by Alfred Nobel, when he accidentally mixed collodium (gun cotton) with nitroglycerin
• Polyethylene by Hans von Pechmann, who prepared it by accident in 1898 while heating diazomethane
• Silly Putty by James Wright, on the way to solving another problem: finding a rubber substitute for the United States during World War II.
• Chemical synthesis of urea, by Friedrich Woehler. He was attempting to produce ammonium cyanate by mixing potassium cyanate and ammonium chloride and got urea, the first organic chemical to be synthesised, often called the 'Last Nail' of the coffin of the Élan vital Theory
• Pittacal, the first synthetic dyestuff, by Carl Ludwig Reichenbach. The dark blue dye appeared on wooden posts painted with creosote to drive away dogs who urinated on them.
• Mauve, the first aniline dye, by William Henry Perkin. At the age of 18, he was attempting to create artificial quinine. An unexpected residue caught his eye, which turned out to be the first aniline dye—specifically, mauveine, sometimes called aniline purple.
• Racemization, by Louis Pasteur. While investigating the properties of sodium ammonium racemate he was able to separate for the first time the two optical isomers of the salt. His luck was twofold: it is the only racemate salt to have this property, and the room temperature in that day was slightly inferior to the point of separation.
• Teflon, by Roy J. Plunkett, who was trying to develop a new gas for refrigeration and got a slick substance instead, which was used first for lubrication of machine parts
• Cyanoacrilate-based Superglue (a.k.a. Krazy Glue) was accidentally twice discovered by Dr. Harry Coover, first when he was developing a clear plastic for gunsights and later, when he was trying to develop a heat-resistant polymer for jet canopies.
• Scotchgard moisture repellant used to protect fabrics and leather, was discovered accidentally in 1953 by Patsy Sherman. One of the compounds she was investigating as a rubber material that wouldn't deteriorate when in contact with aircraft fuel. Some of the material spilled onto her new tennis shoes, and would not wash out.
• Cellophane, the most popular clear plastic wrapper, was developed in 1908 by Swiss chemist Jacques Brandenberger, as a material for covering stain-proof tablecloth.
• The chemical element helium. British chemist William Ramsay isolated helium while looking for argon but, after separating nitrogen and oxygen from the gas liberated by sulfuric acid, noticed a bright-yellow line that matched the D3 line observed in the spectrum of the Sun.
• The chemical element Iodine was discovered by Bernard Courtois in 1811, when he was trying to remove residues with strong acid from the bottom of his saltpeter production plant which used seaweed ashes as a prime material.
• Polycarbonates, a kind of clear hard plastic
• The synthetic polymer celluloid was discovered by British chemist and metallurgist Alexander Parkes in 1856, after observing that a solid residue remained after evaporation of the solvent from photographic collodion. Celluloid can be described as the first plastic used for making solid objects (the first ones being billiard balls, substituting for expensive ivory).
• Rayon, the first synthetic silk was discovered by French chemist Hilaire de Chardonnet, an assistant to Louis Pasteur. He spilled a bottle of collodion and found later that he could draw thin strands from the evaporated viscous liquid.
• The possibility of synthesizing indigo, a natural dye extracted from a plant with the same name was discovered by a chemist named Sapper who was heating coal tar when he accidentally broke a thermometer, and its mercury content acted as a catalyst to produce phthalic anhydride, which could readily be converted into indigo.
• The dye monastral blue was discovered in 1928 in Scotland, when chemist A.G. Dandridge heated a mixture of chemicals at high temperature in a sealed iron container. Inadvertently, iron reacted with these compounds, producing some pigments called phthalocyanines. By substituting copper for iron, he produced an even better pigment called 'monastral blue', which became the basis for many new coloring materials for paints, lacquers and printing inks.
• Acesulfame, an artificial sweetener was discovered accidentally in 1967 by Karl Claus at Hoechst AG.
• Another sweetener, cyclamate, was discovered by US chemist Michael Sveda, when he smoked a cigarette accidentally contaminated with a compound he had recently synthesized.
• Aspartame (NutraSweet) was also accidentally ingested by G.D. Searle chemist James Schlatter, who was trying to develop a test for an anti-ulcer drug.
• Post-it note and 3M, the scientist who accidentally discovered it was attempting to design a strong adhesive, but instead developed one that was very weak.

Pharmacology

• Penicillin by Alexander Fleming. He failed to disinfect cultures of bacteria when leaving for his vacations, only to find them contaminated with Penicillium molds, which killed the bacteria. However, it should be noted that he had previously done extensive research into antibacterial substances.
• The psychedelic effects of LSD by Albert Hofmann. A chemist, he accidentally ingested a small amount of it upon investigating its properties, and had the first acid trip in history, while cycling to his home in Switzerland; this is commemorated among LSD users annually as Bicycle Day.
• 5-fluorouracil's therapeutic action on actinic keratosis, was initially investigated for its anti-cancer actions
• Minoxidil's action on baldness, originally it was an oral agent for treating hypertension. It was observed that bald patients treated with it grew hair too.
• Viagra (sildenafil citrate), an anti-impotence drug. It was initially studied for use in hypertension and angina pectoris. Phase I clinical trials under the direction of Ian Osterloh suggested that the drug had little effect on angina, but that it could induce marked penile erections.
• Retin-A anti-wrinkle action. It was a vitamin A derivative first used for treating acne. The accidental result in some older people was a reduction of wrinkles on the face
• The libido-enhancing effect of l-dopa, a drug used for treating Parkinson's disease. Older patients in a sanatorium had their long-lost interest in sex suddenly revived.
• The first benzodiazepine, chlordiazepoxide (Librium®) was discovered accidentally in 1954 by the Austrian scientist Dr Leo Sternbach (1908-2005), who found the substance while cleaning up his lab
• The first anti-psychotic drug, chlorpromazine, was discovered by French pharmacologist Henri Laborit. He wanted to add an anti-histaminic to a pharmacological combination to prevent surgical shock and accidentally observed that patients treated with it were remarkably calm before the operation.
• the anti-cancer drug cisplatin was discovered by Barnett Rosenberg. He wanted to explore the inhibiting effects of an electric field on the growth of bacteria: it was rather due to an electrolysis product of the platinum electrode he was using.
• Quinine, a derivative of the cinchone tree was probably discovered by an Indian who tried to quench his thirst during a malarial attack by drinking water near the plant and saw the fever abate. Jesuit priests heard the story and popularised its use.
• The anesthetic nitrous oxide (Laughing Gas). Initially well known for inducing altered behavior (hilarity), its properties were discovered when British chemist Humphry Davy tested the gas on himself and some of his friends, and soon realised that nitrous oxide considerably dulled the sensation of pain, even if the inhaler were still semi-conscious.
• The anesthetic ether
• Mustine, a derivative of the mustard gas (a chemical weapon), used for the treatment of some forms of cancer. In 1943, physicians noted that the white cell counts of US soldiers accidentally exposed when a cache of mustard gas shells were bombed in Bari, Italy, were decreased, and mustard gas was investigated as a therapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma.
• The first oral contraceptive (a.k.a. The Pill) was discovered by Dr. Carl Djerassi accidental production of synthetic progesterone and its intentional modification to allow for oral intake
• Prontosil, an antibiotic of the sulfa group was an azo dye. German chemists at Bayer had the wrong idea that selective chemical stains of bacteria would show specific antibacterial activity. Prontosil had it, but in fact it was due to another substance metabolised from it in the body, sulfanilimide.

Medicine and Biology

• Bioelectricity, by Luigi Galvani. He was dissecting a frog at a table where he had been conducting experiments with static electricity, Galvani's assistant touched an exposed sciatic nerve of the frog with a metal scalpel, which had picked up a charge, provoking a muscle contraction.
• Neural control of blood vessels, by Claude Bernard
• Anaphylaxis, by Charles Robert Richet, when he tried to reuse dogs that hadn't previously shown allergic reactions to sea anemone toxin, developed them much faster and more intense in the second time
• The role of pancreas in glucose metabolism, by Oskar Minkowski. Dogs that had their pancreas removed for an unrelated physiological investigation, urinated profusely and the urine attracted flies, indicating its high glucose content
• Coronary catheterization was discovered as a method when a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic accidentally injected radiocontrast into the coronary artery instead of the left ventricle.
• The mydriatic effects of belladonna extracts, by Friedrich Ferdinand Runge
• The Pap smear medical test for uterine cancer was discovered by Dr. Georgios Papanikolaou when he was investigating the cycle of cells in the vaginal fluid of a cancerous patient.
• Vaccination, discovered by English physician Edward Jenner, after he observed that milkmaids would not catch smallpox since they caught benign cowpox first.
• Interferon, an antiviral factor, was discovered accidentally by two Japanese virologists, Yasu-ichi Nagano and Yasuhiko Kojima while aiming to develop an improved vaccine for smallpox.

Physics and Astronomy

• Discovery of the planet Uranus by William Herschel. A double beneficiary (see below) Herschel certainly wasn't looking for new planets when he found Uranus. Like many astronomers of his time, he was looking for comets. He first identified Uranus as a comet, naturally, and it was only after noticing the circularity of its orbit and its distance that he proposed that it was a planet, the first "new" one ever.
• Infrared radiation by William Herschel. Herschel was investigating the temperature differences between different colors of visible light by breaking sunlight into a spectrum using a glass prism. He put thermometers into the different visible colors, then put one in the darkness beyond the red end of the spectrum. The latter one, put where there was no light, was to act as a control, to measure the background air temperature and then reference the differences in temperature in the light to that. He intended to subtract it from the other temperatures, but to his surprise he could not do so because that thermometer registered a greater temperature than the others! After trying other positions, such as above or below the spectrum, which did give background air temperature, he correctly concluded that there was non-visible radiation beyond the red end of the visible spectrum. It is possible he could have discovered ultraviolet radiation the same way, except that glass effectively blocks radiation in that region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• S. N. Bose discovered Bose-Einstein statistics when a simple math error surprisingly explained anomalous data.
• High-temperature superconductivity was discovered serendipitously by physicists Johannes Georg Bednorz and Karl Alexander Müller, ironically when they were searching for a material that would be a perfect isolator (nonconducting). They were awarded the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physics for that.
• Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, by Arno A. Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson. What they thought was an excess electrical noise due to temperature in their antenna at Bell Labs amounted to the long-sought CMBR.
• Radioactivity, by Henri Becquerel. While trying to investigate phosphorescent materials using photographic plates, he stumbled upon uranium.
• X rays, by Wilhelm Roentgen. Interested in investigating cathodic ray tubes, he noted that some fluorescent papers in his lab were illuminated at a distance
• Electromagnetism, by Hans Christian Oersted. While he was setting up his materials for a lecture, he noticed a compass needle deflecting from magnetic north when the electric current from the battery he was using was switched on and off.
• Pulsars, by Antony Hewish and Jocelyn Bell Burnell. What these radio-astronomers thought was a radio emission from intelligent sources in a far away galaxy, resulted in the discovery of a new type of rapidly rotating star.
• Cosmic gamma-ray bursts were discovered in the late 1960s by the US Vela satellites, which were built to detect nuclear tests in the Soviet Union
• Metallic hydrogen was found accidentally in March 1996 by a group of scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, after a 60-year search.
• The thermoelectric effect was discovered accidentally by Estonian physicist Thomas Seebeck, in 1821, who found that a voltage developed between the two ends of a metal bar when it was submitted to a difference of temperature.
• Pluto's moon Charon was discovered by US astronomer James Christy in 1978. He was going to discard what he thought was a defective photographic plate of Pluto, when his Star Scan machine broke down. While it was being repaired he had time to study the plate again and discovered others in the archives with the same "defect" (a bulge in the planet's image which was actually a large moon).

Inventions

• Discovery of the principle behind inkjet printers by a Canon engineer. After putting his hot soldering iron by accident on his pen, ink was ejected from the pen's point a few moments later.
• Vulcanization of rubber, by Charles Goodyear. A piece of rubber mixture with sulfur was accidentally left by him on a hot plate, producing hard rubber
• The popsicle came as a commercial idea when Frank Epperson left a glass of soda water outside during the winter, and got a cylindrical block of ice with the stirring stick to hold it.
• Safety glass, by French scientist Edouard Benedictus. In 1903 he accidentally knocked a glass flask to the floor and observed that the broken pieces were held together by a liquid plastic that had evaporated and formed a thin film inside the flask.
• The Ivory-brand handsoap had its unique water floating properties discovered at Procter & Gamble soap factory when an absent-minded worker left the mixing machine run for too long, introducing air bubbles into the soap bar, and customers asked for more of it.
• Post-it Notes by Spencer Silver and Arthur Fry. They tried to develop a new glue at 3M, but it would not dry. So they devised a new use for it.
• Corn flakes and wheat flakes (Wheaties) were accidentally discovered by the Kellogs brothers in 1898, when they left cooked wheat untended for a day and tried to roll the mass, obtaining a flaky material instead of a sheet.
• The microwave oven was invented by Percy Spencer while testing a magnetron for radar sets at Raytheon, he noticed that a peanut candy bar in his pocket had melted when exposed to radar waves.
• Pyroceramic (used to make Corningware, among other things) was invented by S. Donald Stookey, a chemist working for the Corning company, who noticed crystallization in an improperly cooled batch of tinted glass.

Serendipitous ideas

Some ideas and concepts that came to scientists through accidents or even dreams are also considered a kind of serendipity. Some examples (coincidentally all are regarded with suspicion by science historians):

• Isaac Newton's famed apple falling from a tree, led to his musings about the nature of gravitation
• The German chemist Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz dreamed about Ourobouros, a snake running around and forming a circle, leading to his solution of the closed chemical structure of cyclic compounds, such as benzene
• Archimedes' prototypical cry of Eureka when he made an analogy of specific gravity with his body displacing water in the bathtub

Other examples of serendipity

Other examples of serendipity include:

1) Stories of accidental discovery in exploration abound, of course, because the aim of exploration is to find new things and places. The principle of serendipity applies here, however, when the explorer had an aim in mind and found another unexpectedly. Some classical cases were:

• The first European to set foot on North America was Leif Ericsson, who was trying to escape from a storm
• The re-discovery of North America (see Leif Ericsson) by Christopher Columbus, who was actually looking for a new way to India
• South America was also discovered by accident, first by Spaniard Vicente Pinzon, who was only exploring the West Indies previously discovered by him and Columbus, and stumbled upon Northeast of Brazil, in the region now known as Cabo de Santo Agostinho, in the state of Pernambuco. He also discovered the Amazon and Oiapoque rivers; and Pedro Álvares Cabral, a Portuguese admiral, who was sailing with his fleet to India via the South African route discovered by Vasco da Gama and was deviated to the coast of Brazil.

2) Unexpected friendships or relationships, brought on by a series of serendipitous (unplanned) events. Some examples include:

• Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack in the 2001 movie Serendipity

Uses of serendipity

Serendipity is used as a sociological method in Anselm L. Strauss' and Barney G. Glaser's Grounded Theory, building on ideas by sociologist Robert K. Merton, who in Social Theory and Social Structure (1949) referred to the "serendipity pattern" as the fairly common experience of observing an unanticipated, anomalous and strategic datum which becomes the occasion for developing a new theory or for extending an existing theory. Robert K. Merton also coauthored (with Elinor Barber) The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003), which traces the origins and uses of the word "serendipity" since it was coined. The book is "a study in sociological semantics and the sociology of science", as the subtitle of the book declares. It further develops the idea of serendipity as scientific "method" (as juxtaposed with purposeful discovery by experiment or retrospective prophecy).

The exact meaning of serendipity

There are three interrelated debates regarding the meaning of the word serendipity:

• The first debate: are the events referred to by Walpole in his letter to Mann, good examples of serendipity, as defined by Walpole? Expanding on this debate, are any of the adventures of the Three Princes, good examples of Walpole's definition of serendipity?
• The second debate: if the examples of serendipity cited by Walpole are not good examples of serendipity, what should determine the meaning of the word serendipity, Walpole's precise definition, or a definition derived from the adventures of the Three Princes?
• The third debate: given the range of current definitions for the word serendipity, from Walpole's precise or strict definition to extremely loose definitions, what events should be cited as actual occurrences of serendipity?

Quotations on serendipity

• "In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind." Louis Pasteur
• "Serendipity. Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you've found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for." Lawrence Block
• "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!', but 'That's funny …'" Isaac Asimov
• "In reality, serendipity accounts for one percent of the blessings we receive in life, work and love. The other 99 percent is due to our efforts." Peter McWilliams
• "Serendipity is looking in a haystack for a needle and discovering a farmer's daughter." Julius Comroe Jr.
• "Serendipity is putting a quarter in the gumball machine and having three pieces come rattling out instead of one—all red." Peter H. Reynolds
• "--- you don't reach Serendib by plotting a course for it. You have to set out in good faith for elsewhere and lose your bearings ... serendipitously." John Barth, The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor
• "Serendipity is the art of making an unsought finding." Pek van Andel (1994)

Trivia

• Serendip is the old Persian name for Sri Lanka.

• The episode in the story is a case of abductive reasoning (as used by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes), which later leads to unsought "serendipitous" rewards from the king.

• The word 'serendipity' has been voted as one of the ten English words that were hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company. However, due to its sociological use, the word has been imported into many other languages (Portuguese serendipicidade or serendipidade; French sérendipicité or sérendipité but also heureux hasard, "fortunate chance"; Spanish serendipia; Italian serendipità; Dutch serendipiteit; German Serendipität; Swedish, Danish and Norwegian serendipitet; Romanian serendipitate).

• The 2002 movie entitled "Serendipity" (Kate Beckinsale, John Cusak) revolves around two people who fall in love in "a series of fortunate accidents"

• The 1999 Kevin Smith movie, Dogma has a muse character with the name Serendipity. (Played by Salma Hayek)

• The 2002 story "Discovering Serendipity" (Written by Misha Vara) explains how Serendipity applies to the everyday's activities. This story tells how two people from different sides of Earth find each other in a new fantastic world, learning what Serendipity is about. She refers to it by being written by the same force that bumped with her since she was four years old. "Serendipity wrote this fantastic story, I was only the media to put it into paper".

Related terms

William Boyd coined the term zemblanity to mean somewhat the opposite of serendipity: "making unhappy, unlucky and expected discoveries occurring by design". It derives from Novaya Zemlya (or Nova Zembla), a cold, barren land with many features opposite to the lush Sri Lanka (Serendip). On this island Willem Barents and his crew were stranded while searching for a new route to the east.

Bahramdipity is derived directly from Bahram Gur as characterized in the "Three Princes of Serendip". It describes the suppression of serendipitous discoveries or research results by powerful individuals.

Bibliography

• Theodore G. Remer, Ed.: Serendipity and the Three Princes, from the Peregrinaggio of 1557, Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by Theodore G. Remer, Preface by W.S. Lewis. University of Oklahoma Press, 1965. LCC 65-10112
• Robert K. Merton, Elinor Barber: The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity: A Study in Sociological Semantics and the Sociology of Science. Princeton University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-691-11754-3. (Manuscript written 1958).
• Patrick J. Hannan: Serendipity, Luck and Wisdom in Research. iUniverse, 2006. ISBN 0-595-36551-5
• Royston M. Roberts: Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science. Wiley, 1989. ISBN 0-471-60203-5
• Pek Van Andel: "Anatomy of the unsought finding : serendipity: origin, history, domains, traditions, appearances, patterns and programmability." British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 1994, 45(2), 631-648.

References

See also: "The view from Serendip", by Arthur C. Clarke, Random House, 1977. fhhtsrtsegrds

See also

• Synchronicity

External links

• Polymers & Serendipity: Case Studies -- rayon, nylon, and more examples in chemistry
• Max - A software agent built to induce serendipity.
• Social Serendipity - MIT Media Lab project using mobile phones for social matchmaking
• The Three Princes of Serendip – one version of the story.
• Serendip - a website continually evolving using the principles of serendipity
• Serendipity Blog - an open source blogging script
• Serendipity and the Internet from Bill Thompson at the BBC
• Accidental discoveries. PBS
• Serendipity of Science - a BBC 4 Radio series by Simon Singh
• Top Ten: Accidental discoveries. Discovery Channel Explore your World.