In order to make a scientific discovery, extraordinary knowledge, abilities, skills and hard work are required. And a little luck. Below is a list of ten scientific inventions made due to chance.
When a silicon chip created by graduate student Jamie Link fell into pieces but continued to function, a network of small wireless microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) or so-called “smart dust” was invented.
Penicillin was discovered by biologist Alexander Flemming when a fungus settled on a staphylococcus culture he left in the laboratory and completely destroyed it.
Georges de Mestral, an engineer from Switzerland, drew attention to the structure of burdock fruits clinging to his trousers. This is how the Velcro fastener appeared, which NASA liked. Such fasteners are now used to secure objects in zero gravity conditions, and also as parts of flight suits.
When the American engineer Percy Spencer, who worked at Raytheon, walked past the magnetron device, a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. Thus, a device that generates microwaves due to the interaction of a magnetic field and a flow of electrons became the basis for the invention of the microwave oven.
Radioactive radiation was discovered by Henri Becquerel, who accidentally wrapped photographic plates prepared for the experiment together with a crystal of potassium uranyl sulfate. A few days later the records turned out to be overexposed.
Radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson built an antenna for satellite communications experiments that for some reason had an inexplicably high noise temperature. And only after a conversation with astrophysicist Robert Dicke, scientists realized that they had discovered cosmic microwave background radiation. This discovery was awarded the Nobel Prize.
Teflon or polytetrafluoroethylene was discovered by American chemist Roy Plunkett in April 1938, when tetrafluoroethylene gas he pumped into cylinders under pressure polymerized into a white paraffin-like substance.
Vulcanization of rubber
In the 1830s, natural rubber became very popular as a material for making waterproof shoes, but it quickly disappointed consumers because it could not withstand either frost or heat. Researcher Charles Goodyear disagreed that rubber had no future. He began to look for a way to improve it. The experiments carried out by the self-taught chemist did not bring the desired result: all of his products were unstable to high temperatures and turned into a liquid substance when heated. Until in 1839, a drop of the mixture of rubber and sulfur he prepared accidentally fell on a hot stove, transforming into quite strong and elastic rubber.
Coca-Cola was invented by pharmacist John Pemberton, who was looking for a cure for headaches. He created a mixture of coca leaves, cola nuts and damiana leaves. Later, the scientist's assistant accidentally mixed the drug with carbonated water, thereby creating the world's favorite drink.
Viagra was originally developed by pharmacists from the American company Pfizer as a drug to improve coronary blood supply to the myocardium, as well as for the treatment of angina pectoris and coronary heart disease. However, in 1992, after clinical trials, it was discovered that the new synthesized drug did not have a sufficiently effective effect in the treatment of angina pectoris, but had another feature - it caused an increase in erectile function in men.
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Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann became the first person to taste acid in 1943. He noticed the effect of lysergic acid diethylamide on himself when he conducted medical research on this substance and its effect on the process of childbirth.
Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming studied influenza in 1928. He noticed how blue-green mold (natural penicillin is produced by mold fungi), multiplying in one of the Petri dishes, killed all the staphylococci located there
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History shows that some scientific discoveries, including those that turned the world upside down, were made completely by accident.
It is enough to recall Archimedes, who, having immersed himself in a bath, discovered the law, later named after him, about bodies immersed in water and their buoyant force, or Newton, on whom the famous apple fell. And finally, Mendeleev, who saw his table of elements in a dream.
Perhaps some of this is an exaggeration, but there are very specific examples showing that in science, too, much depends on chance. Wired magazine collected some of them:
1. Viagra
2. LSD
Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann became the first person to taste acid in 1943. He noticed the effect of lysergic acid diethylamide on himself when he was conducting medical research on this substance and its effect on the process of childbirth.
3. X-ray
In the 19th century, many scientists were interested in the rays that appear as a result of electrons striking a metal target. However, X-ray radiation was discovered by the German scientist Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895. He exposed various objects to this radiation and, while changing them, accidentally saw a projection of the bones of his own hand appear on the wall.
4. Penicillin
Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming studied influenza in 1928. One day he noticed how blue-green mold (natural penicillin is produced by mold fungi) growing in one of the Petri dishes killed all the staphylococci present there.
5. Artificial sweeteners
The three most common sugar substitutes were discovered only because scientists forgot to wash their hands. Cyclamate (1937) and aspartame (1965) were by-products of medical research, and saccharin (1879) was accidentally discovered during research on coal tar derivatives.
6. Microwave ovens
Microwave emitters (magnetrons) powered Allied radar during World War II. New applications were discovered in 1946, when a magnetron melted a chocolate bar in the pocket of Percy Spencer, one of the engineers at the American company Raytheon.
7. Brandy
In the Middle Ages, wine merchants often evaporated the water from the transported drink so that it did not spoil and took up less space. Soon, someone resourceful decided to do without the recovery phase. Thus brandy was born.
8. Vulcanized rubber
Unvulcanized rubber is very unstable to external influences and smells bad. Charles Goodyear, after whom the Goodyear company was named, discovered the vulcanization process when he accidentally placed a mixture of rubber and sulfur on a hot plate.
9. Potato chips
Chef George Crum invented the popular snack in 1853. When one of his customers complained that his potatoes were cut too thick, he took the potatoes, cut them into pieces almost as thick as a sheet of paper, and fried them. This is how chips were born.
10. Raisin buns
It is also worth mentioning here the legend described by Moscow expert journalist and writer Vladimir Gilyarovsky, that the raisin bun was invented by the famous baker Ivan Filippov. Governor General Arseny Zakrevsky, who once bought a fresh cod, suddenly discovered a cockroach in it. Filippov, called to the carpet, grabbed the insect and ate it, declaring that the general was mistaken - this was the highlight. Returning to the bakery, Filippov ordered an urgent start to baking raisin buns in order to justify himself to the governor.
Velcro or Velcro
In 1941, Swiss inventor George de Mestral was walking his dog. When they returned home, it turned out that George's coat, like the dog's fur, was covered with burdock. Having examined the burdock under a microscope, George examined the hooks with which the plant was attached to the dog’s fur just not “tightly.” He himself made two ribbons with the same small hooks that would cling to each other - an alternative fastener turned out! But mass production of Velcro will occur only in 14 years. Cosmonauts were the first to use them - they fasten spacesuits on them.
Cellophane
In 1908, Jacques Brandenberger, a Swiss chemist working for the textile industry, tried to create a waterproof coating for kitchen tablecloths to protect them from stains. The coating in the form of liquid viscose turned out to be too rigid for these purposes, but Jacques sensed the potential of this product and suggested using it for product packaging. But it took him another 10 years to construct a machine for producing cellophane.
X-rays or X-Rays
These rays were discovered in 1895 by physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. He worked in a darkened room, trying to figure out whether the newly discovered cathode rays (they are still used today - in televisions, in fluorescent lamps, etc.) could pass through a vacuum tube or not. By chance, he noticed that a blurry greenish cloud appeared on a chemically cleaned screen several feet away. It was as if a faint flash from a telecoil was reflected in a mirror. He conducted research for seven weeks, practically without leaving the laboratory. It turned out that the glow was caused by direct rays emanating from the cathode ray tube, that the radiation produced a shadow and could not be deflected by a magnet - and much more. It also became clear that human bones cast a denser shadow than the surrounding soft tissue, which is still used in fluoroscopy. And the first X-ray image appeared in 1895 - it was a photo of Madame Roentgen’s hand with a clearly visible gold ring. So for the first time, it was men who saw through women, and not vice versa.
Safety glass
Today it is known everywhere, but when the French scientist Edouard Benedictus in 1903, while working in the laboratory, accidentally dropped an empty glass flask on the floor and it did not break, he was very surprised. The walls of the flask, of course, were covered with a network of cracks, but it did not break into pieces. It turned out that before this, a collodion solution (a solution of cellulose nitrates in a mixture of ethanol and ethyl ether) was stored in the flask; the solution evaporated, but the walls of the vessel were covered with a thin layer of it. At that time, the automobile industry was developing in France, the windshield was made of ordinary glass - this was the cause of many injuries to drivers. Benidicuts saw real life-saving benefits in using his invention in a car, but automakers found it too expensive to produce. It was only years later, after WW 1 used triplex as glass for gas masks, that Volvo used it in cars in 1944.
Penicillin
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. He wasn't actually looking for it at the time, but was simply researching the flu. He was not very neat, did not wash laboratory glassware immediately after the experiment, and did not throw out flu cultures for 2-3 weeks in a row, accumulating 30-40 cups on his workbench at a time. So, one day he discovered mold in one of the Petri dishes, which, to his surprise, suppressed the culture of staphylococcus bacteria. The mold that infected the crop was a very rare species. Most likely, it was brought in from a laboratory located on the floor below, where mold samples taken from the homes of patients suffering from bronchial asthma were grown. Fleming left the cup that would later become famous on the laboratory table and went on vacation. The cold snap that came to London created favorable conditions for the growth of mold, and the subsequent warming created favorable conditions for bacteria. As it turned out later, the coincidence of precisely these circumstances was responsible for the famous discovery - and not only of the 20th century - of penicillin, which saved and is still saving the lives and health of an incredible number of people. When Fleming died, he was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral in London - next to the most revered Britons, and in Greece the day of his death was declared national mourning.
Vulcanized rubber
When Columbus first brought rubber balls from the West Indies in 1546, it was like a magical discovery. But this miracle also had its drawbacks: the rubber rotted, stank, was too sticky in the heat and too hard in the cold. Therefore, people did not understand at that time where it could be applied. Almost 300 years later - in 1839 - Charles Goodyear solved this problem. In his chemical laboratory, he tried to mix rubber with magnesia, lime, nitric acid - all to no avail. The next attempt, mixing rubber with sulfur, also ended in failure. But suddenly, completely by accident, these rubber and sulfur were dropped onto a hot stove - this is how elastic rubber was obtained, from which balls, galoshes and car tires are now produced.
Popsicle on a stick
Frank Epperson, the inventor of this invention, was a young boy of just eleven years old when he came up with what some would later call one of the most important inventions of the 20th century. Of course, Lady Luck most likely smiled on this boy when he dissolved soda powder in water - a popular drink for children in 1905. It was not possible to drink the drink right away and Frank, without removing the stirring stick from the glass with the drink, set it aside for a while. The weather was frosty and the mixture froze. Frank laughed and showed his classmates a funny frozen thing on a stick that you could lick with your tongue. 18 years later, Frank remembered this funny incident and began producing Epsicles fruit ice cream in seven flavors. Today, more than three million popsicles are sold annually in America alone.
Superglue
Superglue, or Krazy Glue, is a substance that is actually called "cyanoacrylate" It was invented by accident by dr. Harry Coover, who in laboratory conditions during World War II (1942) searched for transparent plastic for gun sights. The resulting cyanoacrylate did not solve his problems, since it quickly hardened, stuck to anything and spoiled laboratory equipment. But many years later, in 1958, he realized that his invention could benefit humanity. The most real benefit was the ability to instantly seal wounds - this saved the lives of many soldiers during the Vietnam War - with their wounds sealed they could be transported to the hospital. By the way, in 1959, the extraordinary abilities of glue were demonstrated to America when the host of the program was lifted into the air using two steel plates glued together with just a drop of glue. Later, everything was lifted into the air - from televisions to cars (!).
Scotchgard protective material
In 1953, Patsy Sherman, an employee of the same 3M corporation, was working on a rubber material that was supposed to withstand contact with aviation fuel. A sloppy lab technician spilled one of her experimental compounds on her new tennis shoes. At first she was upset because she could not clean it from her shoes with either soap or alcohol. But this failure also inspired Sherman. She set to work and a year later, the now well-known Scotchgard drug entered the market, which protects surfaces from contamination - both fabrics and cars.
Post-it notes - memostickers (post-it notes)
In 1970, Spencer Silver, who worked for the 3M Corporation (Minnesota, Mining and Manufacturing), tried to develop a super-strong adhesive. What he managed to get was the complete opposite: the glue was smeared on the surface of the paper, and if it was glued to something, it fell off after some time, leaving no traces on the surface. Four years later, an employee of the same company, Arthur Fry, who sang in a church choir, in order to quickly find the desired text, came up with the idea of gluing bookmarks to a book with psalms, smeared with this composition - otherwise they would easily fall out of it. Since 1980 - the beginning of the release of post-it notes - to this day, it has been one of the most popular office products.
Raisin buns
It is also worth mentioning here the legend described by Moscow expert journalist and writer Vladimir Gilyarovsky, that the raisin bun was invented by the famous baker Ivan Filippov. Governor General Arseny Zakrevsky, who once bought a fresh cod, suddenly discovered a cockroach in it. Filippov, called to the carpet, grabbed the insect and ate it, declaring that the general was mistaken - this was the highlight. Returning to the bakery, Filippov ordered an urgent start to baking raisin buns in order to justify himself to the governor.
Potato chips
Chef George Crum invented the popular snack in 1853. When one of his customers complained that his potatoes were cut too thick, he took the potatoes, cut them into pieces almost as thick as a sheet of paper, and fried them. This is how chips were born.
Brandy
In the Middle Ages, wine merchants often evaporated the water from the transported drink so that it did not spoil and took up less space. Soon, someone resourceful decided to do without the recovery phase. Thus brandy was born.
Artificial sweeteners
The three most common sugar substitutes were discovered only because scientists forgot to wash their hands. Cyclamate (1937) and aspartame (1965) were byproducts of medical research, and saccharin (1879) was accidentally discovered during research on coal tar derivatives.
Microwave ovens
Microwave emitters (magnetrons) powered Allied radar during World War II. New applications were discovered in 1946, when a magnetron melted a chocolate bar in the pocket of Percy Spencer, one of the engineers at the American company Raytheon.
Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann became the first person to taste “acid” in 1943. He noticed the effect of lysergic acid diethylamide on himself when he was conducting medical research on this substance and its effect on the process of childbirth.
Viagra
As you know, Viagra was originally developed as a remedy for sore throats. Men all over the world should be grateful to the residents of the Welsh town of Merthyr Tydfil. It was here that a remarkable side effect of the drug was discovered during trials in 1992.
Champagne
The honor of inventing the world's most popular wine - champagne - is attributed to the Benedictine monk Pierre Perignon from Hautevillers Abbey (Champagne, France). But few people know that such a brilliant invention was made almost by accident: at that time, the presence of bubbles in wine was considered a sign of a bad winemaker. As the abbey's housekeeper and in charge of the food supplies and cellar, Perignon experimented with the production of various wines and tried to create white wine from red grape varieties. Red grape varieties ripened better in Champagne, and white wine was more popular at the court of the French king, and then the monk invented a method for obtaining white juice from red grapes. However, due to the cool climate of the province, the wine had to stretch out the fermentation process for two years, which is why gas bubbles formed in the drink, and the barrels often exploded. The monk suggested storing the first year's wine in barrels, and the second year's in bottles, thus preventing the wine from "exploding." For several more years, Pierre Perignon tried to completely get rid of bubbles through experiments, but in vain. Fortunately for him (and for us), the new sparkling wine gained enormous popularity at court.
Waffle cone
Before the invention of the waffle cone, ice cream was served on plates or in bowls. The “father” of the ice cream cone was the Syrian Ernest Hamwi, who sold waffles at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. The owner of a nearby kiosk was selling ice cream, and the product was so popular among customers that he ran out of bowls. Humvee suggested joining forces and using rolled waffles instead of plates, into which you can put scoops of ice cream. I liked the new product, and the efficient Syrian created the first company for the production of waffle cones - Cornucopia Waffle Company.
Rocking chair
American President Benjamin Franklin once saw a child being rocked in a cradle, and converted an ordinary chair into a rocking chair.
The English have a saying: “He’s as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room with five rocking chairs.”
Sandwiches
If it weren't for the Earl of Sandwich's passion for gambling, we wouldn't know how to make closed sandwiches. The Count categorically did not want to leave the card table even for lunch, so the servants brought him sandwiches straight to the card room. And they were covered (with a second piece of bread) so that it would be convenient to carry and so that the cards would not get dirty.
Discoveries in a dream
It turns out that this is not only the periodic table. In the same way, the chemist Kekula, while dozing in a chair in front of the fireplace in his laboratory, dreamed of the basis of organic chemistry - the benzene ring.
The famous indigo dye used to dye jeans
Also obtained by accident.
One of the stages of obtaining this dye is the oxidation of naphthalene, so this thing is useful not only against moths. And you also need mercury - just when the thermometer broke, chemist Karl Heinmann received the missing link in the indigo synthesis reaction, which he had been struggling with for almost 15 years.
Towards the discovery of iodine an ordinary domestic cat put her paw: at a saltpeter production plant, she accidentally knocked over a jar of sulfuric acid into a boiler with production waste, and everyone saw a beautiful purple steam, which then crystallized. This was iodine (the cat, thank God, remained alive).
Garbage bag
Harry Wasylyk invented the first garbage bag in 1950. Vasilyuk was an inventor and engineer, and one day the city municipality approached him and set a task: to ensure that household waste did not spill out during the loading of waste collection machines. Vasilyuk had been thinking about creating something like a vacuum cleaner for a long time, but the decision came suddenly. One of his friends or family (versions differ) said the phrase: “I need a garbage bag!” Vasilyuk realized that disposable bags should be used for waste management and suggested making them from polyethylene. The Winnipeg hospital was the first to use plastic garbage bags. The first garbage bags intended for private use appeared in the 1960s. Nowadays, one of the most important problems that humanity must solve is waste disposal.
Antibiotics
In 1928, scientist Alexander Fleming noticed that penicillin mold had contaminated one of his samples containing pathogenic staphylococcus bacteria that had been left near an open window. Fleming examined the sample under a microscope and noticed that the mold was killing off the bacteria. The importance of Fleming's discovery became clear only in 1940, when massive research began around the world on a new type of medicine - antibiotics. Nowadays, antibiotics are extremely widely used in medicine; they account for up to 15% of all drugs sold in the world.
Supermarket trolley
Merchant Sylvan Goldman invented the first shopping cart in 1936. Goldman owned a large grocery store in Oklahoma City and noticed that customers were refusing to buy certain items because they were too heavy to carry. The discovery was accidental: Goldman noticed how one customer placed a heavy bag on top of a toy car that her son was rolling on a string. The merchant first attached small wheels to an ordinary basket, and then attracted mechanics to help and created a prototype of a modern cart. Mass production of this device began in 1947. The invention of the trolley made it possible to create a new type of store - a supermarket.
Pacemaker
This device, which saves the lives of millions of people suffering from heart disease, was invented by accident. In 1941, engineer John Hopps was commissioned by the Navy to conduct research into hypothermia. He was given the task of finding a way to quickly warm a person who had been in the cold or cold water for a long time. Hopps tried to use high-frequency radio waves for warming up and accidentally discovered that a heart that had stopped beating as a result of hypothermia could be restarted if it was stimulated with electrical impulses. In 1950, based on Hopps's discovery, the first pacemaker was created. It was large and inconvenient; its use sometimes led to burns on the patient’s body.
Medic Wilson Greatbatch made the second accidental discovery. He was working on creating a device that was supposed to record heart rhythm. One day he accidentally inserted the wrong resistor into the device and noticed that oscillations arose in the electrical circuit, reminiscent of the rhythm of the human heart. Two years later, Greatbatch created the first implantable pacemaker, which delivers artificial impulses to stimulate the heart.
Coca-Cola
In 1886, doctor and pharmacist John Pemberton tried to prepare a mixture based on an extract from the leaves of the South American coca plant and African cola nuts, which have tonic properties. Pemberton tried the finished mixture and realized that it tasted good. Pemberton believed that this syrup could help people suffering from fatigue, stress and toothache. The pharmacist took the syrup to the largest pharmacy in the city of Atlanta. The first batches of syrup were sold that same day, at five cents per glass. However, the Coca-Cola drink was created as a result of negligence. By chance, the seller, diluting the syrup, mixed up the taps and poured sparkling water instead of ordinary water. The resulting mixture became Coca-Cola. Initially, this drink was not very successful. During the first year of soda production, Pemberton spent $79.96 on advertising the new drink, but was only able to sell $50 worth of Coca-Cola. Nowadays Coca-Cola is produced and drunk in 200 countries around the world.
Chocolate chip cookies
One of the most popular types of cookies in the United States is chocolate-chip cookies. It was invented in the 1930s when small hotel owner Ruth Wakefield decided to bake butter cookies. The woman broke a chocolate bar and mixed the chocolate pieces into the dough, hoping that the chocolate would melt and give the dough a brown color and a chocolate flavor. However, Wakefield was let down by her ignorance of the laws of physics, and she took out cookies with chocolate chips from the oven.
Discovery of America Christopher Columbus also happened completely by accident. In fact, Columbus sailed towards Asia...
Random coincidences can not only amuse and surprise. Many scientific discoveries and inventions that have changed our lives were made by accident. This post is about such random discoveries and inventions.
One of the first accidentally discovered laws in physics was Archimedes' law. One day, King Hiero instructed Archimedes to check whether his crown was made of pure gold or whether the jeweler mixed a significant amount of silver into it. Archimedes knew the density of gold and silver, but the difficulty was to accurately determine the volume of the crown: after all, it had an irregular shape. Archimedes pondered this problem all the time. One day he was taking a bath, and then a brilliant idea came to his mind: by immersing the crown in water, you can determine its volume by measuring the volume of water displaced by it. According to legend, Archimedes jumped naked into the street shouting “Eureka!”, i.e. “Found it!” And indeed at that moment the fundamental law of hydrostatics was discovered. But how did he determine the quality of the crown? To do this, Archimedes made two ingots: one of gold, the other of silver, each of the same weight as the crown. Then he put them one by one in a vessel with water and noted how much its level had risen. Having lowered the crown into the vessel, Archimedes established that its volume exceeded the volume of the ingot. Thus the master’s dishonesty was proven.
The phenomenon of radioactivity was yet another discovery made by accident. In 1896, the French physicist A. Becquerel, while working on the study of uranium salts, wrapped fluorescent material in an opaque material along with photographic plates. He discovered that the photographic plates were completely exposed. The scientist continued his research and discovered that all uranium compounds emit radiation.
A little earlier, in 1895, X-rays were discovered. The German physicist Roentgen (1845-1923) discovered this type of radiation by accident while studying cathode rays. Roentgen's observation was as follows. He worked in a darkened room, trying to figure out whether the newly discovered cathode rays (i.e. beams of electrons) could pass through a vacuum tube or not. By chance, he noticed that a blurry greenish cloud appeared on a chemically cleaned screen several feet away. It was as if a faint flash from a telecoil was reflected in a mirror. For seven weeks he conducted research, practically without leaving the laboratory. It turned out that the cause of the glow is direct rays emanating from the cathode ray tube, that the radiation produces a shadow and cannot be deflected by a magnet, and much more. It also became clear that human bones cast a denser shadow than the surrounding soft tissue, which is still used in fluoroscopy. And the first X-ray image appeared in 1895 - it was a photo of Madame Roentgen’s hand with a clearly visible gold ring.
“...Everything that is hidden and unknown, and which no scientific research can discover, will most likely be discovered only by chance by a person who is the most persistent in the search and the most attentive to everything that has even the slightest relation to the subject of the search.” This is what Charles Goodyear said, and he had reason for it. After expeditions to America, Europeans became aware of rubber - a soft and elastic material from which the natives made various objects. In Europe, rubber began to be used to make waterproof clothing and shoes. But pure rubber smelled bad, when heated it became soft and viscous, and at low temperatures it hardened like stone. Goodyear once purchased a rubber life preserver from a store. After that, he improved the valve on this wheel, and went with this invention to a company producing wheels, but the company agent said that if he wanted to get rich, he should invent a way to improve the rubber. Goodyear had extremely little knowledge of chemistry, but he seized on this idea and began experiments, trying to mix rubber with various substances. He mixed a variety of substances with rubber resin, from salt to ink, boiled it in a solution of quicklime, etc. He spent four years in futile attempts and got into huge debts. Finally one day he accidentally heated a mixture of rubber and sulfur on the kitchen stove. The result was rubber that was elastic, but at the same time did not freeze in the cold and did not melt in the heat. This allowed Goodyear to pay off all his debts, and the discovery of the rubber vulcanization process became an impetus for the development of industry.
In 1942, at the height of World War II, Harry Coover (pictured), a chemist for the American company Eastman Kodak, led a scientific team that was trying to create a transparent plastic for use in optical sights. In one of the unsuccessful experiments with cyanoacrylates, Coover accidentally touched the sample and suddenly stuck tightly - this experience is now well known to anyone who has ever spilled superglue on their hands or touched surfaces coated with it. Coover later discovered that cyanoacrylates have the unusual property of rapid polymerization - they combine into a sticky mass in the presence of the smallest amount of moisture. Thus, a glue was invented that glues anything very well, without requiring either heat or pressure to activate it.
Teflon was first produced by chemist Roy Plunkett in April 1938. He was looking for a new refrigerant, which he wanted to synthesize from hydrochloric acid and tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) gas pumped under pressure into cylinders. To prevent these cylinders from exploding in the laboratory, they were lined with “dry ice” - solid carbon dioxide. But instead of gas, Plunkett found there only white flakes of a paraffin-like substance, incredibly slippery, chemically stable, resistant to heat, water and acids. The material took its place in frying pans later thanks to the French engineer Marc Gregoire, who in 1945 developed a method for applying polytetrafluoroethylene to aluminum surfaces. The Tefal brand is a combination of Teflon and aluminum.
People have been looking for ways to easily make fire for a very long time. In 1826, the English chemist and pharmacist John Walker invented the first truly convenient method - sulfur matches, and he did it completely by accident. One day he was mixing chemicals with a stick, and a dried drop formed at the end of the stick. To remove it, he struck the floor with a stick. Fire broke out! Walker immediately appreciated the practical value of his discovery and began experimenting and then producing matches. One box contained 50 matches and cost 1 shilling. Each box came with a piece of sandpaper folded in half.
In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin while researching influenza. He was not very neat, did not wash laboratory glassware immediately after the experiment and did not throw away flu cultures for 2-3 weeks in a row, accumulating 30-40 cups on his workbench at a time. So, one day he discovered mold in one of the Petri dishes, which, to his surprise, suppressed the culture of staphylococcus bacteria. The mold that infected the crop was a rare species. Most likely, it was brought in from a laboratory located on the floor below, where mold samples taken from the homes of patients suffering from bronchial asthma were grown. Fleming left the cup that would later become famous on the laboratory table and went on vacation. The cold snap that came to London created favorable conditions for the growth of mold, and the subsequent warming created favorable conditions for bacteria. As it turned out later, the coincidence of precisely these circumstances was responsible for the famous discovery - and not only of the 20th century - of penicillin, which saved and is still saving the lives and health of an incredible number of people.
In 1987, European experts began developing a new technical standard for mobile phones. Digital cell phones have appeared - much more convenient and compact than their predecessors, and also working throughout Europe - in full accordance with the spirit of European cooperation and universal harmony. The standard contained a small addition that allowed engineers testing telecommunications equipment to exchange short text messages with each other. However, consumers soon discovered this “Short Messaging Service” (SMS) and, to the great surprise of telephone operators, fell in love with it. And we still send text messages to each other.
Random discoveries
History knows many random discoveries. Although, as one old joke says, today is an accident, tomorrow is a habit, and the day after tomorrow is a tradition.
Popsicle on a stick
Frank Epperson, the inventor of this invention, was a young boy of only eleven years old when he came up with what some would later call one of the most important inventions of the 20th century. Of course, Lady Luck most likely smiled on this boy when he dissolved soda powder in water - a popular drink for children in 1905. It was not possible to drink the drink right away and Frank, without removing the stirring stick from the glass with the drink, set it aside for a while. The weather was frosty and the mixture froze. Frank laughed and showed his classmates a funny frozen thing on a stick that you could lick with your tongue. 18 years later, Frank remembered this funny incident and began producing fruit ice cream in seven flavors. Today, more than three million popsicles are sold annually in America alone.
Velcro or Velcro
In 1941, Swiss inventor George de Mestral was walking his dog. When they returned home, it turned out that George's coat, like the dog's fur, was covered with burdock. Having examined the burdock under a microscope, George examined the hooks with which the plant was only firmly attached to the dog’s fur.
He himself made two ribbons with the same small hooks that would cling to each other - an alternative fastener turned out! But mass production of Velcro will occur only in 14 years. Cosmonauts were the first to use them - they fasten spacesuits on them.
Superglue
Superglue, or Krazy Glue, is the substance that is actually called. It was invented by accident by dr. Harry Coover, who in laboratory conditions during World War II (1942) searched for transparent plastic for gun sights. The resulting cyanoacrylate did not solve his problems, since it quickly hardened, stuck to anything and spoiled laboratory equipment.
But many years later, in 1958, he realized that his invention could benefit humanity. The most real benefit was the ability to instantly seal wounds - this saved the lives of many soldiers during the Vietnam War - with sealed wounds they could be transported to the hospital. By the way, in 1959, the extraordinary abilities of glue were demonstrated to America when the host of the program was lifted into the air using two steel plates glued together with just a drop of glue. Later, everything was lifted into the air - from televisions to cars.
Post-it notes - memostickers (post-it notes)
In 1970, Spencer Silver, who worked for the 3M Corporation (Minnesota, Mining and Manufacturing), tried to develop a super-strong adhesive. What he managed to get was the complete opposite: the glue was smeared on the surface of the paper, and if it was glued to something, it fell off after some time, leaving no traces on the surface.
Four years later, an employee of the same company, Arthur Fry, who sang in a church choir, in order to quickly find the desired text, came up with the idea of gluing bookmarks to a book with psalms, smeared with this composition - otherwise they would easily fall out of it. Since 1980 - the beginning of the release of post-it notes - to this day, it has been one of the most popular office products.
Scotchgard protective material
In 1953, Patsy Sherman, an employee of the same 3M corporation, was working on a rubber material that was supposed to withstand contact with aviation fuel. A sloppy lab technician spilled one of her experimental compounds on her new tennis shoes. At first she was upset because she couldn’t get it off her shoes with soap or alcohol.
But this failure also inspired Sherman. She set to work and a year later, the now well-known Scotchgard drug entered the market, which protects surfaces from contamination - both fabrics and cars.
Safety glass
Today it is known everywhere, but when the French scientist Edouard Benedictus in 1903, while working in the laboratory, accidentally dropped an empty glass flask on the floor and it did not break, he was very surprised. The walls of the flask, of course, were covered with a network of cracks, but it did not break into pieces. It turned out that before this, a collodion solution (a solution of cellulose nitrates in a mixture of ethanol and ethyl ether) was stored in the flask; the solution evaporated, but the walls of the vessel were covered with a thin layer of it.
At that time, the automobile industry was developing in France, the windshield was made of ordinary glass - this was the cause of many injuries to drivers. Benidicuts saw real life-saving benefits in using his invention in a car, but automakers found it too expensive to produce. It was only years later, after WW 1 used triplex as glass for gas masks, that Volvo used it in cars in 1944. Now you can buy an orthosis.
Cellophane
In 1908, Jacques Brandenberger, a Swiss chemist working for the textile industry, tried to create a waterproof coating for kitchen tablecloths to protect them from stains. The coating in the form of liquid viscose turned out to be too rigid for these purposes, but Jacques sensed the potential of this product and suggested using it for product packaging. But it took him another 10 years to construct a machine for producing cellophane.
Vulcanized rubber
When Columbus first brought rubber balls from the West Indies, it was like a magical discovery. But this miracle also had its drawbacks: the rubber rotted, stank, was too sticky in the heat and too hard in the cold. Therefore, people did not understand at that time where it could be applied. Almost 300 years later - in 1839 - Charles Goodyear solved this problem. In his chemical laboratory, he tried to mix rubber with magnesia, lime, nitric acid - all to no avail. The next attempt, mixing rubber with sulfur, also ended in failure. But suddenly, completely by accident, these rubber and sulfur were dropped on a hot stove - this is how elastic rubber was obtained, from which balls, galoshes and car tires are now produced.
X-rays or X-Rays
These rays were discovered in 1895 by physicist Wilhelm Conrad Ro:ntgen. He worked in a darkened room, trying to figure out whether the newly discovered cathode rays (they are still used today - in televisions, fluorescent lamps, etc.) could pass through a vacuum tube or not. By chance, he noticed that a blurry greenish cloud appeared on a chemically cleaned screen several feet away. It was as if a faint flash from a telecoil was reflected in a mirror. For seven weeks he conducted research, practically without leaving the laboratory. It turned out that the glow was caused by direct rays emanating from the cathode ray tube, that the radiation produced a shadow and could not be deflected by a magnet - and much more. It also became clear that human bones cast a denser shadow than the surrounding soft tissue, which is still used in fluoroscopy. And the first X-ray image appeared in 1895 - it was a photo of Madame Roentgen’s hands and with a clearly visible gold ring. So for the first time, it was men who saw through women, and not vice versa.
Penicillin
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. He wasn't actually looking for it at the time, but was simply researching the flu. He was not very neat, did not wash laboratory glassware immediately after the experiment, and did not throw away flu cultures for 2-3 weeks in a row, accumulating 30-40 cups on his workbench at a time. So, one day he discovered mold in one of the Petri dishes, which, to his surprise, suppressed the culture of staphylococcus bacteria. The mold that infected the crop was a very rare species. Most likely, it was brought in from a laboratory located on the floor below, where mold samples taken from the homes of patients suffering from bronchial asthma were grown. Fleming left the cup that would later become famous on the laboratory table and went on vacation. The cold snap that came to London created favorable conditions for the growth of mold, and the subsequent warming created favorable conditions for bacteria. As it turned out later, the coincidence of precisely these circumstances was responsible for the famous discovery - and not only of the 20th century - of penicillin, which saved and is still saving the lives and health of an incredible number of people. When Fleming died, he was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral in London - next to the most revered Britons, and in Greece the day of his death was declared national mourning.
P.S. It is ridiculous to say that the world owes the discovery of penicillin only to the sloppiness of Alexander Fleming and a random coincidence of circumstances. This, like many other seemingly random discoveries, is due to the interest and talent of people, scientists and researchers. Fortune alone is not enough to surprise the world with a new discovery - as they say, the sure fall of the apple on the head of the doubting Newton was undoubtedly a consequence of their mutual scientific maturity.
And you will be happy!
