Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Serendipity

Serendipity refers to making a fortunate discovery by accident. “Serendipity” was coined by Horace Wolpole in 1754 to denote the gift of finding something valuable and agreeable which was not being sought.
Serendipity plays an important role in creative thinking, many historic innovations such as Alexander Fleming's accidental discovery of penicillin was a result of serendipity.
Serendipity can happen when:
An inventor is actively engaged in problem solving but is stuck at a certain point, and an accident or chance observation provides the solution or answer he is hunting for.
The inventor encounters something new that is not applicable to an area of work in which he or she is actively engaged.

Serendipity results from observation during hands-on experimentation. Hence an inventor who pursues experimentation is more apt to encounter and benefit from accidental inventions.

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