Serendipity, error, and exaptation - how discoveries are made

Inventions and discoveries can come from a variety of different places. Many people would believe that discoveries are made in a pristine white lab or inventions are made by a dedicated person working tirelessly in their garage to see an idea come to life. While these scenarios can be reality, many inventions and discoveries are found by accident, sometimes in very messy ways. Discoveries can be serendipitous, exaptation, or made by mistake.

An example of a serendipitous discovery is penicillin. In 1928, Alexander Fleming was studying staphylococcus, a type of bacteria. Fleming decided to take a break and go on holiday, but he left open a petri dish containing the bacteria. When he came back to his lab, he found that a blue-green mold had grown in the dish. The mold killed the bacteria in the dish due to the mold containing an antibiotic that is now known as penicillin. This powerful antibiotic could easily kill bacteria without being toxic to humans. Though this discovery was made by accident, it is very fortunate that Fleming made this discovery as penicillin has saved millions of life and is credited for being the creation that sparked modern medicine (Shackle, 2015).

An example of a discovery made by exaptation is Listerine, a leading mouthwash brand. The history of Listerine starts in the 1800s with Dr. Joseph Lister. At the time, it was believed that “bad air” known as miasma caused illness, but Lister did not believe in this explanation. After examining the work of Louis Pasteur, father of pasteurization, Lister decided to use carbolic acid on wounds to prevent gangrene. This method worked well, so Lister began touring parts of Europe and America to explain his findings. Lister’s discovery caught the attention of Dr. Joseph Lawrence, who would develop an alcohol-based antiseptic in 1879. This antiseptic was named “Listerine” to honor Dr. Joseph Lister and his discoveries. Listerine was created to be a surgical antiseptic, but it quickly became a “cure-all” and was marketed as an additive for cigarettes, dandruff cure, floor cleaner, cure for gonorrhea, and a cure for bad breath. Listerine would finally gain traction in dentistry in the 1920s where it evolved into the mouthwash we know today (Betzler, 2021).

Many inventions are created by mistake, and this was the case for the microwave. In 1945, engineer Percy Spencer was testing a vacuum tube, known as a magnetron, when he noticed his snack of a chocolate bar had melted in his pocket. While finding your pocket to be full of melted chocolate should be a sad occasion, Spencer was curious and decided to perform an experiment by popping popcorn kernels near the magnetron. Next, he ran the experiment again with an egg, which quickly exploded. Spencer found that the yolk of the egg was very hot, which made Spencer realize he could use this to cook food. He then built a metal box that could contain microwave power which creates a magnetic field. This box would be known as the first microwave oven (Celcook, 2017).

The inventions discussed in this post all share the common factor of being unintentional or not used for their intended purpose. For a discovery to be serendipitous, it needs to be an accidental discovery that has positive and impactful results, hence the discussion on the life-saving antibiotic, penicillin. For an invention to be created by exaptation, it needs to take an existing invention and use it to make something new. Listerine was created by first building upon Lister’s use of carbolic acid and then Lawrence’s use of alcohol. Listerine was not originally intended to be a mouthwash, but it eventually became a mouthwash through years of different usages and trial-and-error testing. For an invention to be an error or made, it needs to be a mistake which is an unintentional result caused by a variable not being taken into consideration. In the case of the microwave, Spencer unintentionally introduced his chocolate to microwave radiation, which was a great loss that led to the invention of the microwave.

While mistakes are usually seen as disappointments, they can lead to great discoveries and drive people to improve themselves or their new creations. Discovering people are not using your invention as intended can also be disappointing or even insulting, but new ideas can come from the creativity of end-users.

References

Betzler, C. (2021, July 28). Did you know…the bizarre history of Listerine. Sapulpa Times. https://sapulpatimes.com/did-you-knowthe-bizarre-history-of-listerine/

Celcook. (2017, December 29). The Accidental Invention of the Microwave. https://celcook.ca/the-accidental-invention-of-the-microwave/

Shackle, S. (2015, April 2). Science and serendipity: famous accidental discoveries. New Humanist. https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/4852/science-and-serendipity-famous-accidental-discoveries