I have always been fascinated by serendipitous scientific discoveries. Indeed, Chemistry Review has featured several tales of lucky breakthroughs over the years (see ‘Read more’ for examples). Serendipity can be defined as the act of making unexpected and fortunate discoveries by accident. As Isaac Asimov said, ‘The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not “Eureka!” but “That’s funny…”’
To my mind, the best scientists are those who are both observant and curious. They notice that something strange or unexpected has happened and investigate. I wonder how many potentially useful new materials have been discarded because the person who accidentally created them did not ask themselves ‘what have I made?’ and ‘what use could it be?’
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