Serendipity
Serendipity by definition means " the faculty of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for "(Webster's 1074). In other words serendipity means discovering things by accident. The word serendipity was coined by English writer, connoisseur, and collector, Horace Walpole in a letter to his friend, Sir Horace Mann in 1754. Walpole was impressed about a story he read about the adventures of "The Three Princes of Seredip" who "were always making discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of...."(Walpole ix). Walpole used the term to describe some of his own accidental discovery. The word itself was then rediscovered and was used with increasing frequency. Most of the people who were blessed with serendipity are not reluctant to admit their good fortune. Far from being defensive about the role that chance played in their discoveries, they are usually eager to describe it. They realize that serendipity does not diminish the credit given to them for making the discovery. Louis Pasteur, who made breakthrough discoveries in chemistry, microbiology, and medicine, recognized this and expressed it succinctly, " In the field of observation, chance only favors the prepared
Thomas Kuhn, famous American philosopher of science wrote a book called "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions," which was one of the most influential philosophical works of the twentieth century. In it he describes discovery as "the product of rational experimentation in which the scientist is able to maintain an open and unmediated state of mind"(Kuhn 249). Kuhn popularized the word paradigm in his book, which has many definitions, but can be described as a scientists limited assumptions and expectations that create the conditions for anomalies and discovery. Going back to Pasteur's statement, what did he mean by the "prepared mind" and how can it be acquired? There is no inborn ability or talent for discovery in many of those who benefit from serendipity. But there is a dominant characteristic shared by those who benefit from serendipity and that is curiosity. Take for example George deMestral who went out for a walk in the countryside of his native Switzerland. Upon returning home he noticed that his jacket was covered with cockleburs. As he was taking them off he asked himself, "What makes them stick so tenaciously?"(deMestral 220). His curiosity led him to use a microscope and discovered that the cockleburs are covered with hooks, and the hooks had become embedded in the loops of the fabric of his jacket. The rest is h
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Approximate Word count = 910
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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