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Serendipity

January 01, 1970

For other uses, see Serendipity (disambiguation).
"Happy accident" redirects here. For other uses, see Happy Accidents.

Serendipity is an unplanned fortunate discovery.[2] Serendipity is a common occurrence throughout the history of product invention and scientific discovery.[3]

Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin is an oft-cited example of serendipity.[1]

Etymology edit

The first noted use of "serendipity" was by Horace Walpole on 28 January 1754. In a letter he wrote to his friend Horace Mann, Walpole explained an unexpected discovery he had made about a lost painting of Bianca Cappello by Giorgio Vasari[4] by reference to a Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip. The princes, he told his correspondent, were "always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of."[5] The name comes from Serendip, an old Persian name for Sri Lanka (Ceylon), hence Sarandib by Arab traders.[6] It is derived from the Sanskrit Siṃhaladvīpaḥ (Siṃhalaḥ, Sinhalese + dvīpaḥ, island).[7]

The word has been exported into many other languages, with the general meaning of "unexpected discovery" or "fortunate chance".[8][9]

Applications edit

Inventions edit

Serendipitous inventions
 
Post-It Note
 
Velcro
 
Silly Putty
 
Popsicle
 
Penicillin

The term "serendipity" is often applied to inventions made by chance rather than intent. Andrew Smith, editor of The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, has speculated that most everyday products had serendipitous roots, with many early ones related to animals. The origin of cheese, for example, possibly originated in the nomad practice of storing milk in the stomach of a dead camel that was attached to the saddle of a live one, thereby mixing rennet from the stomach with the milk stored within.[10]

Other examples of serendipity in inventions include:

  • The Post-It Note, which emerged after 3M scientist Spencer Silver produced a weak adhesive, and a colleague used it to keep bookmarks in place on a church hymnal.[10]
  • Silly Putty, which came from a failed attempt at synthetic rubber.[10]
  • The use of sensors to prevent automobile air bags from killing children, which came from a chair developed by the MIT Media Lab for a Penn and Teller magic show.[10]
  • The microwave oven. Raytheon scientist Percy Spencer first patented the idea behind it after noticing that emissions from radar equipment had melted the candy in his pocket.[11]
  • The Velcro hook-and-loop fastener. George de Mestral came up with the idea after a bird hunting trip when he viewed cockleburs stuck to his pants under a microscope and saw that each burr was covered with tiny hooks.[12]
  • The Popsicle, whose origins go back to San Francisco where Frank Epperson, age 11, accidentally left a mix of water and soda powder outside to freeze overnight.[13]
  • The polymer teflon, which Roy J. Plunkett observed forming a white mass inside a pressure bottle during an effort to make a new CFCs refrigerant.[14]
  • The antibiotic penicillin, which was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming after returning from a vacation to find that a Petri dish containing staphylococcus culture had been infected by a Penicillium mold, and no bacteria grew near it.[1]
  • The effect on humans of the psychedelic lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was discovered by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann in 1943, after unintentionally ingesting an unknown amount, possibly absorbing it through his skin.[15]

Discoveries edit

 
The serendipitous discovery of a new species of lacewing, Semachrysa jade, was made on Flickr

Serendipity contributed to entomologist Shaun Winterton discovering Semachrysa jade, a new species of lacewing, which he found not in its native Malaysia, but on the photo-sharing site Flickr. Winterton's discovery was aided by Flickr's ability to present images that are personalized to a user's interests, thereby increasing the odds he would chance upon the photo. Computer scientist Jaime Teevan has argued that serendipitous discovery is promoted by such personalisation, writing that "people don't know what to do with random new information. Instead, we want information that is at the fringe of what we already know, because that is when we have the cognitive structures to make sense of the new ideas."[16]

Online activity edit

Serendipity is a design principle for online activity that would present viewpoints that diverge from those participants already hold. Harvard Law professor Cass Sunstein argues that such an "architecture of serendipity" would promote a healthier democracy. Like a great city or university, "a well-functioning information market" provides exposure to new ideas, people, and ways of life. "Serendipity is crucial because it expands your horizons. You need that if you want to be free."[17] The idea has potential application in the design of social media, information searches, and web browsing.[18][19]

Related terms edit

Several uncommonly used terms have been derived from the concept and name of serendipity.

William Boyd coined the term zemblanity in the late twentieth century to mean somewhat the opposite of serendipity: "making unhappy, unlucky and expected discoveries occurring by design". The derivation is speculative, but believed to be from Nova Zembla, a barren archipelago once the site of Russian nuclear testing.[20][21]

Bahramdipity is derived directly from Bahram Gur as characterized in The Three Princes of Serendip. It describes the suppression of serendipitous discoveries or research results by powerful individuals.[22]

In addition, Solomon & Bronstein (2018) further distinguish between perceptual and realised pseudo-serendipity and nemorinity.[23]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Alexander Fleming: Fleming's serendipitous discovery of penicillin changed the course of medicine and earned him a Nobel Prize". Science History Institute. December 5, 2017. from the original on 2020-11-10. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  2. ^ . OxfordDictionaries.com. Oxford dictionary. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  3. ^ Vuong, Quan-Hoang (2022). A New Theory of Serendipity: Nature, Emergence and Mechanism. Walter de Gruyter GmbH. ISBN 9788366675582.
  4. ^ Silvia Davoli (2 July 2018). "The creation of the word 'serendipity'". Strawberry Hill House & Garden. from the original on 2018-07-06. Strawberry Hill Treasure Hunt.
  5. ^ Remer, Theodore G., ed. (1965). Serendipity and the Three Princes, from the Peregrinaggio of 1557. Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by Theodore G. Remer. Preface by W. S. Lewis. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 6. LCCN 65-10112
  6. ^ Barber, Robert K. Merton, Elinor (2006). The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity: A Study in Sociological Semantics and the Sociology of Science (Paperback ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 1–3. ISBN 978-0691126302.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "serendipity". from the original on 2018-10-13. Retrieved 2017-06-10 – via The Free Dictionary.
  8. ^ For example: Portuguese serendipidade or serendipismo; Spanish serendipia; German Serendipität; French sérendipité or also heureux hasard (fortunate chance); Italian serendipità (Italian Dictionary Hoepli by Aldo Gabrielli, cfr. 2020-12-05 at the Wayback Machine); Dutch serendipiteit; Swedish, Danish and Norwegian serendipitet; Romanian serendipitate; Finnish serendipisyys or serendipiteetti; Russian sieriendipnost (Серендипность); Japanese serendipiti (セレンディピティ); Chinese yìwài fāxiàn (意外发现 that is "unexpected discovery").
    Others use directly the term serendipity, like Polish.
  9. ^ Collins Chinese Dictionary. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. 2005. pp. 90, 391. ISBN 0-00-720432-9.
  10. ^ a b c d "The Power Of Serendipity". CBS News. 5 October 2007. from the original on 2019-08-11. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  11. ^ "The story of serendipity". Understanding Science. University of California Museum of Paleontology. from the original on 2018-11-08. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
  12. ^ "This Month in Physics History: February 9, 1990: Death of George de Mestral". American Physical Society. February 2004. from the original on 2019-02-19. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
  13. ^ Thomas, J. Thorson (2017). Serendipity: Seemingly Random Events, Insignificant Decisions, and Accidental Discoveries that Altered History. Windy City Publishers. ISBN 9781941478592.
  14. ^ US 2230654, Plunkett, Roy J, "Tetrafluoroethylene polymers", issued 4 February 1941 
  15. ^ Hofmann, Albert (2009). LSD, my problem child: reflections on sacred drugs, mysticism, and science (Fourth English Language ed.). Santa Cruz, CA. ISBN 978-0-9798622-2-9. OCLC 610059315.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. ^ Starr, Karla (September 12, 2012). "How to Not Find What You're Looking For". Scientific American Blog Network. from the original on 2019-02-18. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
  17. ^ Pazzanese, Christina (March 24, 2017). "Danger in the internet echo chamber". Harvard Law Today. from the original on 2021-04-16. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  18. ^ Race, Tammera M.; Makri, Stephann (2016-06-13). Accidental Information Discovery: Cultivating Serendipity in the Digital Age. Elsevier. ISBN 9781780634319. from the original on 2023-07-15. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
  19. ^ Reviglio, Urbano (2019-01-02). "Serendipity as an emerging design principle of the infosphere: challenges and opportunities". Ethics and Information Technology. 21 (2): 151–166. doi:10.1007/s10676-018-9496-y. ISSN 1572-8439. S2CID 57426650.
  20. ^ Boyd, William. Armadillo, Chapter 12, Knopf, New York, 1998. ISBN 0-375-40223-3
  21. ^ Boyle, Richard (2009-03-12). "Serendipity and Zemblanity". Himal Southasian. from the original on 2020-12-29. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  22. ^ (a) Sommer, Toby J. "'Bahramdipity' and Scientific Research", The Scientist, 1999, 13(3), 13. 2001-11-02 at the Wayback Machine
    (b) Sommer, Toby J. "Bahramdipity and Nulltiple Scientific Discoveries," Science and Engineering Ethics, 2001, 7(1), 77–104. 2018-11-26 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^ Solomon, Yosef, & Bronstein, Jenny. "Information Serendipity, Pseudo-Serendipity, Zemblanity, Disruptive Discovery and Nemorinity: Revisiting Donizetti's and Romani's Opera Buffa L'elisir d'Amore" 2023-07-15 at the Wayback Machine, iConference Proceedings, 2018, 1–4

Further reading edit

  • Merton, Robert K.; Barber, Elinor (2004). The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity: A Study in Sociological Semantics and the Sociology of Science. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691117546. (Manuscript written 1958).
  • Hannan, Patrick J. (2006). Serendipity, Luck and Wisdom in Research. iUniverse. ISBN 978-0595365517.
  • Roberts, Royston M. (1989). Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science. Wiley. ISBN 978-0471602033.
  • Isabelle Rivoal and Noel B. Salazar (2013). Contemporary ethnographic practice and the value of serendipity, Social Anthropology, 21(2): 178–85.

External links edit

 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Serendipity (effect).
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Serendipity.

January 01, 1970
serendipity, other, uses, disambiguation, happy, accident, redirects, here, other, uses, happy, accidents, unplanned, fortunate, discovery, common, occurrence, throughout, history, product, invention, scientific, discovery, alexander, fleming, discovery, penic. For other uses see Serendipity disambiguation Happy accident redirects here For other uses see Happy Accidents Serendipity is an unplanned fortunate discovery 2 Serendipity is a common occurrence throughout the history of product invention and scientific discovery 3 Alexander Fleming s discovery of penicillin is an oft cited example of serendipity 1 Contents 1 Etymology 2 Applications 2 1 Inventions 2 2 Discoveries 2 3 Online activity 3 Related terms 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksEtymology editThe first noted use of serendipity was by Horace Walpole on 28 January 1754 In a letter he wrote to his friend Horace Mann Walpole explained an unexpected discovery he had made about a lost painting of Bianca Cappello by Giorgio Vasari 4 by reference to a Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip The princes he told his correspondent were always making discoveries by accidents and sagacity of things which they were not in quest of 5 The name comes from Serendip an old Persian name for Sri Lanka Ceylon hence Sarandib by Arab traders 6 It is derived from the Sanskrit Siṃhaladvipaḥ Siṃhalaḥ Sinhalese dvipaḥ island 7 The word has been exported into many other languages with the general meaning of unexpected discovery or fortunate chance 8 9 Applications editInventions edit Serendipitous inventions nbsp Post It Note nbsp Velcro nbsp Silly Putty nbsp Popsicle nbsp PenicillinThe term serendipity is often applied to inventions made by chance rather than intent Andrew Smith editor of The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink has speculated that most everyday products had serendipitous roots with many early ones related to animals The origin of cheese for example possibly originated in the nomad practice of storing milk in the stomach of a dead camel that was attached to the saddle of a live one thereby mixing rennet from the stomach with the milk stored within 10 Other examples of serendipity in inventions include The Post It Note which emerged after 3M scientist Spencer Silver produced a weak adhesive and a colleague used it to keep bookmarks in place on a church hymnal 10 Silly Putty which came from a failed attempt at synthetic rubber 10 The use of sensors to prevent automobile air bags from killing children which came from a chair developed by the MIT Media Lab for a Penn and Teller magic show 10 The microwave oven Raytheon scientist Percy Spencer first patented the idea behind it after noticing that emissions from radar equipment had melted the candy in his pocket 11 The Velcro hook and loop fastener George de Mestral came up with the idea after a bird hunting trip when he viewed cockleburs stuck to his pants under a microscope and saw that each burr was covered with tiny hooks 12 The Popsicle whose origins go back to San Francisco where Frank Epperson age 11 accidentally left a mix of water and soda powder outside to freeze overnight 13 The polymer teflon which Roy J Plunkett observed forming a white mass inside a pressure bottle during an effort to make a new CFCs refrigerant 14 The antibiotic penicillin which was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming after returning from a vacation to find that a Petri dish containing staphylococcus culture had been infected by a Penicillium mold and no bacteria grew near it 1 The effect on humans of the psychedelic lysergic acid diethylamide LSD was discovered by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann in 1943 after unintentionally ingesting an unknown amount possibly absorbing it through his skin 15 Discoveries edit nbsp The serendipitous discovery of a new species of lacewing Semachrysa jade was made on Flickr Serendipity contributed to entomologist Shaun Winterton discovering Semachrysa jade a new species of lacewing which he found not in its native Malaysia but on the photo sharing site Flickr Winterton s discovery was aided by Flickr s ability to present images that are personalized to a user s interests thereby increasing the odds he would chance upon the photo Computer scientist Jaime Teevan has argued that serendipitous discovery is promoted by such personalisation writing that people don t know what to do with random new information Instead we want information that is at the fringe of what we already know because that is when we have the cognitive structures to make sense of the new ideas 16 Online activity edit Serendipity is a design principle for online activity that would present viewpoints that diverge from those participants already hold Harvard Law professor Cass Sunstein argues that such an architecture of serendipity would promote a healthier democracy Like a great city or university a well functioning information market provides exposure to new ideas people and ways of life Serendipity is crucial because it expands your horizons You need that if you want to be free 17 The idea has potential application in the design of social media information searches and web browsing 18 19 Related terms editSeveral uncommonly used terms have been derived from the concept and name of serendipity William Boyd coined the term zemblanity in the late twentieth century to mean somewhat the opposite of serendipity making unhappy unlucky and expected discoveries occurring by design The derivation is speculative but believed to be from Nova Zembla a barren archipelago once the site of Russian nuclear testing 20 21 Bahramdipity is derived directly from Bahram Gur as characterized in The Three Princes of Serendip It describes the suppression of serendipitous discoveries or research results by powerful individuals 22 In addition Solomon amp Bronstein 2018 further distinguish between perceptual and realised pseudo serendipity and nemorinity 23 See also editBrowse Coincidence Felix culpa Insight Lateral thinking Multiple discovery Role of chance in scientific discoveries Serendipaceratops Serendipity Sapphire Side effect SynchronicityReferences edit a b Alexander Fleming Fleming s serendipitous discovery of penicillin changed the course of medicine and earned him a Nobel Prize Science History Institute December 5 2017 Archived from the original on 2020 11 10 Retrieved 2020 04 28 Serendipity OxfordDictionaries com Oxford dictionary Archived from the original on July 11 2017 Retrieved 23 April 2018 Vuong Quan Hoang 2022 A New Theory of Serendipity Nature Emergence and Mechanism Walter de Gruyter GmbH ISBN 9788366675582 Silvia Davoli 2 July 2018 The creation of the word serendipity Strawberry Hill House amp Garden Archived from the original on 2018 07 06 Strawberry Hill Treasure Hunt Remer Theodore G ed 1965 Serendipity and the Three Princes from the Peregrinaggio of 1557 Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Theodore G Remer Preface by W S Lewis University of Oklahoma Press p 6 LCCN 65 10112 Barber Robert K Merton Elinor 2006 The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity A Study in Sociological Semantics and the Sociology of Science Paperback ed Princeton NJ Princeton University Press pp 1 3 ISBN 978 0691126302 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link serendipity Archived from the original on 2018 10 13 Retrieved 2017 06 10 via The Free Dictionary For example Portuguese serendipidade or serendipismo Spanish serendipia German Serendipitat French serendipite or also heureux hasard fortunate chance Italian serendipita Italian Dictionary Hoepli by Aldo Gabrielli cfr Archived 2020 12 05 at the Wayback Machine Dutch serendipiteit Swedish Danish and Norwegian serendipitet Romanian serendipitate Finnish serendipisyys or serendipiteetti Russian sieriendipnost Serendipnost Japanese serendipiti セレンディピティ Chinese yiwai faxian 意外发现 that is unexpected discovery Others use directly the term serendipity like Polish Collins Chinese Dictionary New York HarperCollins Publishers 2005 pp 90 391 ISBN 0 00 720432 9 a b c d The Power Of Serendipity CBS News 5 October 2007 Archived from the original on 2019 08 11 Retrieved 2019 02 17 The story of serendipity Understanding Science University of California Museum of Paleontology Archived from the original on 2018 11 08 Retrieved 2019 02 18 This Month in Physics History February 9 1990 Death of George de Mestral American Physical Society February 2004 Archived from the original on 2019 02 19 Retrieved 2019 02 18 Thomas J Thorson 2017 Serendipity Seemingly Random Events Insignificant Decisions and Accidental Discoveries that Altered History Windy City Publishers ISBN 9781941478592 US 2230654 Plunkett Roy J Tetrafluoroethylene polymers issued 4 February 1941 Hofmann Albert 2009 LSD my problem child reflections on sacred drugs mysticism and science Fourth English Language ed Santa Cruz CA ISBN 978 0 9798622 2 9 OCLC 610059315 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Starr Karla September 12 2012 How to Not Find What You re Looking For Scientific American Blog Network Archived from the original on 2019 02 18 Retrieved 2019 02 18 Pazzanese Christina March 24 2017 Danger in the internet echo chamber Harvard Law Today Archived from the original on 2021 04 16 Retrieved 2019 06 24 Race Tammera M Makri Stephann 2016 06 13 Accidental Information Discovery Cultivating Serendipity in the Digital Age Elsevier ISBN 9781780634319 Archived from the original on 2023 07 15 Retrieved 2020 10 20 Reviglio Urbano 2019 01 02 Serendipity as an emerging design principle of the infosphere challenges and opportunities Ethics and Information Technology 21 2 151 166 doi 10 1007 s10676 018 9496 y ISSN 1572 8439 S2CID 57426650 Boyd William Armadillo Chapter 12 Knopf New York 1998 ISBN 0 375 40223 3 Boyle Richard 2009 03 12 Serendipity and Zemblanity Himal Southasian Archived from the original on 2020 12 29 Retrieved 2020 12 28 a Sommer Toby J Bahramdipity and Scientific Research The Scientist 1999 13 3 13 Archived 2001 11 02 at the Wayback Machine b Sommer Toby J Bahramdipity and Nulltiple Scientific Discoveries Science and Engineering Ethics 2001 7 1 77 104 Archived 2018 11 26 at the Wayback Machine Solomon Yosef amp Bronstein Jenny Information Serendipity Pseudo Serendipity Zemblanity Disruptive Discovery and Nemorinity Revisiting Donizetti s and Romani s Opera Buffa L elisir d Amore Archived 2023 07 15 at the Wayback Machine iConference Proceedings 2018 1 4Further reading editMerton Robert K Barber Elinor 2004 The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity A Study in Sociological Semantics and the Sociology of Science Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0691117546 Manuscript written 1958 Hannan Patrick J 2006 Serendipity Luck and Wisdom in Research iUniverse ISBN 978 0595365517 Roberts Royston M 1989 Serendipity Accidental Discoveries in Science Wiley ISBN 978 0471602033 Isabelle Rivoal and Noel B Salazar 2013 Contemporary ethnographic practice and the value of serendipity Social Anthropology 21 2 178 85 External links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Serendipity effect nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Serendipity ACM Paper on Creating serendipitous encounters in a geographically distributed community The Serendipity Equations Serendipity of Science a BBC Radio 4 series by Simon Singh Video Are Scientific Discoveries Merely Lucky Shots Samantha Copeland Delft University of Technology Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Serendipity amp oldid 1220179954, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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