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Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Archimedes, the Greek mathematician, lived in Syracuse in the third century B.C..." (more)
Key Phrases: xanthate rayon, uranium crystal, racemic acid, United States, World War, New York (more...)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Hardcover Available from these sellers. Published June 30, 1989	Hardcover, June 30, 1989	--	$9.49	$0.01
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This book is a collection of anecdotal "re caps" of the accidental discoveries that led to revolutionary scientific develop ment, including Edward Jenner's creation of the smallpox vaccine and Newton's gravity theory. Roberts tells us that Jen ner made the fortuitous connection be tween cowpox and smallpox by investi gating the claim of a milkmaid who avoided smallpox illness in the barnyard. Likewise, a shrewd Newton developed gravitational theory while observing the fall of the fa mous apple. It's clear that Roberts (chemis try, Univ. of Texas) feels most engaged and comfortable in the fields of chemistry and biology, for these sections are the largest and the most informative and concisely written. Elsewhere, the book suffers from a choppy and dry presentation. Recom mended for larger subject collections only.
-Lauren Bielski, New York
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Many of the things discovered by accident are important in our everyday lives: Teflon, Velcro, nylon, x-rays, penicillin, safety glass, sugar substitutes, and polyethylene and other plastics. And we owe a debt to accident for some of our deepest scientific knowledge, including Newton's theory of gravitation, the Big Bang theory of Creation, and the discovery of DNA. Even the Rosetta Stone, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the ruins of Pompeii came to light through chance. This book tells the fascinating stories of these and other discoveries and reveals how the inquisitive human mind turns accident into discovery. Written for the layman, yet scientifically accurate, this illuminating collection of anecdotes portrays invention and discovery as quintessentially human acts, due in part to curiosity, perserverance, and luck.

Product Details

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (June 28, 1989)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0471602035
ISBN-13: 978-0471602033
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,638 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)
#75 in Books > Science > History & Philosophy > History of Science

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› Visit Amazon's Royston M. Roberts Page

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Archimedes, the Greek mathematician, lived in Syracuse in the third century B.C. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
xanthate rayon, uranium crystal, racemic acid, blasting gelatin, ethyl stearate, antimony trifluoride, ethyl oleate, ammonium cyanate

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, World War, New York, Sir Isaac, Sir Derek, Alfred Nobel, Bronze Age, Johns Hopkins University, New World, Roy Plunkett, Dead Sea, Edward Jenner, Rosetta Stone, Royal Society, University of Illinois, Adolf von Baeyer, Imperial College, Joseph Priestley, Marie Curie, Mediterranean Sea, Mexico City, National Geographic, New Jersey, Big Bang, Journal of Chemical Education

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 72 books:

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by James D. Watson on page 226, page 229, and Back Matter
The Beyond Within: The L.S.D. Story by Sidney Cohen in Front Matter, page 131, and Back Matter
The Double Helix by James D. Watson on page 226, page 229, and Back Matter
Organic Chemistry by William Henry Brown on page 211, and Back Matter
British Museum Book of The Rosetta Stone by Carol Andrews on page 111, and Back Matter

See all 72 books this book cites

46 books cite this book:

The Subjectivity of Scientists and the Bayesian Approach by S. James Press on page 16, page 223, and Back Matter
Real Reading, Real Writing: Content-Area Strategies by Donna Hooker Topping on page 100, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity: A Study in Sociological Semantics and the Sociology of Science by Robert K. Merton in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Coincidence or Destiny?: Stories of Synchoronicity That Illuminate Our Lives by Phil Cousineau in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Action Research and Organizational Development by J. Barton Cunningham on page 64, and Back Matter

See all 46 books citing this book

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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tremendous, April 2, 2002

By	Henry Raddick (London UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

An excellent book on the breakthroughs in science which have in some way been fuelled by chance. Inspiration came to Archimedes while sitting in the bath and to Isaac Newton under an apple tree, as we all know; but Roberts offers other less well-known yet fascinating tales of scientific discovery. I was intrigued to read that Bill Gates invented the left-handed mouse while "working on something else" - according to the Microsoft guru himself.

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What have you seen lately?, September 2, 2001

By	Victoria Tarrani "writer, editor, artist, des... (Betwixt FL and CA, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This is a fun book filled with vignettes about the discovery of something that we take for granted today. Serendipity is a gift for finding something good by accident, luck, or good fortune. Velcro�, penicillin, X-rays, dynamite, streaking, yes streaking, all have their roots in serendipity.

Archimedes was the first streaker. He calculated a way to measure the actual amount of gold used in a crown that the king had commissioned. King Hiero had provided the gold, but did not trust the goldsmith. Archimedes had already written mathematical formulas for finding the volume of a sphere and cylinder, but this was an irregular solid object. He was in the public baths in Syracuse when it dawned on him that the volume of an object would displace an equal volume of water. He ran from the bathhouse yelling, "Eureka, I've got it!" He simply forgot to put his clothes back on. The king was right to be suspicious, by the way.

Had it not been for his intelligence, sound judgement, and wisdom he would not be credited with the discovery. This is the theme throughout the book. "Accidents become discoveries because of the sagacity of the person who encountered the accident."

For students or trivia champions knowing the background, especially the accidental and humorous beginnings of something, makes remembering who discovered what and why easier. The bonus is that you get a few good chuckles too. Five stars for the discoverers.

Victoria Tarrani

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5.0 out of 5 stars You can benefit from serendipity by joining Project BE4Discovery, October 10, 2009

By	Chunlin Qian (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

Serendipitous stories about unexpected beneficial drug effects are now being systematically collected on the internet. It is strange that pharmaceutical companies are not collecting such information, not even in their clinical trials. Multiple serendipitous stories analyzed properly can lead to a new use patent for an existing drug, which is owned by whoever applied for the new use patent. Each new use patent can be licensed for millions, tens of millions of dollars each year. Project BE4Discovery attempts to centrally and systematically collect unexpected beneficial drug effects and share the proceeds from any new use patents with those who made the patent application possible. Visit [...] to find out more!

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