Happy Accidents: Serendipity in Modern Medical Breakthroughs

a book

Happy Accidents: Serendipity in Modern Medical Breakthroughs

Morton A. Meyers · 2007 · 420 pages

This is Morton Meyers' fascinating, entertaining, and highlyaccessible look at the surprising role serendipity played in some of themost important medical discoveries in the 20th century. Though within thescientific community a certain stigma is attached to chance discoverybecause it is wrongly seen as pure luck, happy accidents happen every dayand Meyers shows how it takes intelligence, insight, and creativity torecognize a "Eureka! I found what I wasn't look for!" moment and know whatto do next. Penicillin, chemotherapy drugs, X-rays, Valium, the Pap smear,and Viagra were all discovered accidentally, stumbled upon in search ofsomething else. In discussing these medical breakthroughs and others, Dr.Meyers makes a cogent, highly engaging argument for a more creative, ratherthan purely linear, approach to science.
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