Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science

This book is a really fun read for the science enthusiast. The author, a researcher in organic chemistry, emphasizes the role played by chance in scientific discovery, "serendipity" as he titles the book, and as such he argues for a particular philosophy of science. But serendipity does not imply pure dumb luck, as the author explains, but rather "sagacity" is an important ingredient; these great scientists and inventors had the perspicuity and imagination to recognize the importance of their chance discoveries--i.e. that muck at the bottom of the flask had some truly intriguing properties!The book is structured as a series of articles on serendipitous discoveries from the time of Archimedes right up into the late twentieth century. Sometimes romance and scientific legend are employed, especially in the early half of the book, in order to entertain and support the thesis of serendipity, but I think little is lost by such speculation. What I found most interesting about the book is that organic and industrial chemistry are emphasized in the content, probably owing to the author's background, rather than the usual more glamorous popular science fare of physics and medicine. As a result, much of the information is new to the more jaded science reader. I personally had never read the story of Joseph Priestly, who discovered of oxygen, the basic reactions of photosynthesis, and so many other marvelous discoveries, until I read this book! I find it amazing that Priestly receives nary a mention in the standard college science course, while a media clown like Einstein is instantly recognizable to the general public, most of whom could not even describe to you what he supposedly "discovered".Contained herein are the stories of the discoveries of the various elements, iodine, the noble gases, safety glass, velcro, teflon and many other amazing products of human technology. The book is richly decorated, filled with illustrations, photographs, and cartoons. Part of what enticed me to read the book was a nice three dimensional structural formula of vitamin B12, the largest natural molecule ever synthesized de novo. There is something here for everone.On the down side, I think perhaps the author brought in too much organic chemistry, some of it quite technical, for readers who have not taken organic chemistry before. Maybe trained scientists are the target audience, however, and his enthusiasm for his own field is understandable. And my own personal experiences with organic have lead me to believe that much of it is groping in the dark, so maybe the author's trade is no coincidence.

Interesting information

Delivered on time, I am enjoying it right now. easy to understand, nice stories about accidental descoveries in sciencie. I think than everybody need to read it.

Good discussion of "Good Luck" and other 'serendipitous' events. Historical background is interesting.

This book received promptly and in excellent condition. I appreciate the breezy presentation of the informative material. I expect to share it with my grand kids. I would recommend it for high school reading to open students' minds to the possibilities around us.

such fun reading; I love reading tidbits like this. Well presented and good collection of items and their "birth"

The main drawback is that it was published in 1989 and has not been updated since then. Historically, it has a lot of interesting information and details that I enjoyed reading about. I am a chemist, so the chemistry discussed was not a problem, but I'm not sure how other readers could follow several of the chapters.

A library copy was found on a public bus. Read part of it and returned it, deciding to get my own. This book shows how scientific discoveries are inspired (in-Spirit), as many elements must come together for an idea to materialize.