The Power of Accidental Discoveries

schmiddy writes "An article from Wired mentions the surprising number of discoveries that have been made entirely by accident. In an older article, The Discovery Channel's site points out a different subset of inventions that happened by accident. A much older article from PBS goes into more depth on the subject of accidental discoveries, and gives a great quote from physicist Joseph Henry: 'The seeds of great discoveries are constantly floating around us, but they only take root in minds well prepared to receive them.'"

Number 10: Potato Chips

[Anonymous Coward]

All hail the crispy goodness.

Recipes

[michaelhood]

Most of the best food combinations were discovered by accident too..

mmm.. peanut butter & bananas.

Re:Number 10: Potato Chips

[Firehed]

Sheer irony that their inventor was named Crum. You can't eat just one, but you never seem to be able to eat the whole thing either. How cruel.

A fascinating quote

[DerekLyons]

A quote I once heard; Most scientific discoveries don't start with 'eureka', they start from 'hmm... thats odd'.

Re:Recipes

[Anonymous Coward]

So you made pizza? Wow, what an invention, you should file a patent!

Re:Asimov

[Basehart]

Sounds like a fun way to pass the weekend :-)

Re:LSD

[firemangreg]

No, it wasn't forgotten, it was in the first article. Oh wait, I read the article, I must be new here.

Or Reeses?

[Scarletdown]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...

Scene : Death Star Troops' day room as they are approaching Yavin.

TIE Fighter pilot-1 : Mmmmm... Chocolate.
TIE Fighter pilot-2 : Mmmmm... Peanut butter

Pilot-1 bumps into Pilot-2

Pilot-2 : Hey! You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!
Pilot-1 : You got your peanut butter on my chocolate!

Both taste the new combo. "It's delicious!"

Pilot-1 : You know who would like this? Governor Tarkin.
Pilot-2 : Yeah. He likes chocolate, and he likes peanut butter.
Pilot-1 : Let's bring him some.

Alarm klaxons go off and all fighter pilots are ordered to their ships.

Pilot-2 : As soon as the battle's over.

And so the galaxy would have to wait...

Best quote

[lunartik]

We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents.

- Bob Ross [wikiquote.org]

Gaunch

[MarkRose]

My guess is that the first accident induced invention was underwear.

The Power of Accidental Discoveries

[Fire Dragon]

And I tought they were talking politics, like this continent that got in the way to India.

Re:Not so surprising.

[Walt Dismal]

This is so true. I can't begin to count the number of times I've made an accidental discovery in my shorts that I was not intentionally seeking. Ooops. Thinking out loud again. When will I learn...?

Re: Asimov quote

[Black Parrot]

> A quote from Asimov on the subject: "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not Eureka! (I found it!) but 'That's funny...'"

That's funny...

Perspectives

[ScrewMaster]

Scientist: "The power of accidental discoveries."

Creationist: "The power of the Dark Side."

Re:Asimov quote

[pedalman]

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not Eureka! (I found it!) but 'That's funny...

I must be in the wrong discipline. My discoveries are usually prefaced by, "Awwww, shit!!!!!!"

The Far Side

[shawn443]

Reminds me of that cartoon where the caveman inventor had just got done inventing the wheel and proceeded to strap himself on top for a test drive.