Perhaps the greatest misconception in science is that striking advancements emerge from the brilliant sparkle of genius in an abrupt moment. However, according to the author of this engaging and often comical popular science book, breakthroughs more frequently happen as a result of hiccups and accidents as a consequence of clumsiness, bad luck, failures and shocking surprises.
Consider the instance of British chemist John Walker, who in 1826 unintentionally struck a stick against his fireplace’s brick hearth. The stick, which he had previously used to stir volatile substances, ignited, leading to the invention of the first matchstick.
Then there’s the curious case of Phineas Gage, a man who in 1848 was handling explosives to make way for a railway line in Vermont. Unexpectedly, the powder ignited, forcefully propelling the rod he was holding into his skull, in a horrific manner, below his left eye and straight out through the top of his skull. Despite losing part of his brain, Gage survived but underwent a disturbing character transition from diligent, competent, and popular to crude, obscene and distasteful. His story indicated that the brain is the origin of personality and laid the groundwork for the emerging field of neuroscience.
Another noteworthy anecdote is about Bernard Courtois, a French chemist who in 1811 was incinerating seaweed to produce a key gunpowder ingredient, saltpetre. The residual ashy sludge was no longer useful, and so Courtois would typically dissolve it with sulphuric acid. On one unfortunate day, his hand slipped pouring out an excessive amount of acid. This caused a powerful reaction with the ash and the production of a dark purple gas, later named iodine, taken from the Greek term Iodes, meaning violet. Today, as a result of this random discovery, iodine has multiple uses in manufacturing pharmaceuticals, disinfectants, printing inks, dyes, animal feed supplements and photographic chemicals.
The author of this book amusingly comments that it is somewhat terrifying how fortunate our species has been, in numerous occasions, with many of the most vital life-saving inventions and deep discoveries about the universe coming to life only because something somewhere went astray.