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There is a part of me that loves these stories about serendipitous discoveries. Of course the trick is to recognize what you have found and to use that informat

• hga 10y ago
  And penicillin is a classic "recognize what you have found" example, scientists prior to Alexander Fleming had noted and wrote up observations of molds killing cultured bacteria, but just treated that as a curiosity. He, at least, was actively looking for anti-bacterial agents after his experiences in WWI battlefield hospitals.
• razakel 10y ago
  >There is a part of me that loves these stories about serendipitous discoveries. The discovery of LSD is a fascinating example of this. Hofmann experienced some sort of altered state of consciousness after first synthesising it. The interesting thing is that it lasted about two hours, which means he could not possibly have accidentally ingested some. He then reports he has a "peculiar presentiment" that there's something special about it, so decides to deliberately take a dose. The rest is history.