Serendipity & Development

On February 18, 2008 in General

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Almost all major organizations either invest in, or would like to hav,e a large Research & Development activity. But none have a Serendipity & Development at all. In fact, it wouldn’t be too prudent to have one, for one cannot predict what one will find during the course of Serendipity. That is what makes serendipity exciting.

Science and technology has a lot to owe to serendipity. Indeed many of the inventions have arisen out of sheer serendipity. One fanous example is that of Alexander Fleming’s Penicillin. He had failed to disinfect bacteria culutres prior to leaving for his vacations, only to find Penicillium molds contaminating his samples which killed the bacteria. And thus penicilin came into existence.

Another one of author’s favourite serendipitious invention resulted from Roy Plunkett’s search for a new refrigerant. His tank of gas seemed empty but weighed the same, which means his “has” solidified into something else. His investigations showed that he didn’t find a refrigerant, but a material with a very low surface tension- Teflon. 

Even Newton stumbled onto theory of gravitation due to the apple fortuitously falling on his head. Discovery of the New World was an act of Serendipity. Almost all of us owe something to serendipity.

The word ‘Serendipity’ was reportedly first used by Horace Walpole in mid-1700s, while writing in reference to a fairy tale ‘Three Princes of Serendip’. The Princes apparently stumbled onto new “…discoveries by accidents and sagacity, of things there were not in quest of…”. While the aspect of accident is well understood by everybody, it is the other half that interests the author. Sagacity is a very important part of serendipity, without which it wouldn’t exist. Sagacity means the ‘ability to be very keenly discerning’. This is well exemplified by Louis Pasteur’s quote: “In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind”. One must possess an open mind to be able accept anything offered by circumstances and situations, and assess the offering’s worth completely before making a judgment. Otherwise, serendipity will never strike the person. Imagine the world if Roy Plunkett had ignored this solid without giving his curious observant eye, and instead continued his quest for a refrigerant.

 Serendipity is indeed searching for a needle in a haystack, and instead finding the farmer’s beautiful daughter. But it also lies in identifying the farmer’s daughter’s greater potential, and not just assessing her as a replacement for the desperately-sought-after needle .

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