Serendipity, Error and Exaptation in Innovation
Serendipity is the
discovery of something valuable by accident. The accidental discovery of the
antibiotic qualities of penicillin is a classic case of laxity and serendipity.
In 1928, Alexander Fleming, a Scottish scientist, was studying the bacteria staphylococci
at a London hospital. Fleming was a poor communicator and was untidy in his
laboratory and occasionally used unsystematic scientific methods. He used to
leave his laboratory without cleaning and organizing it. The window was open,
the lids of the agar plates were left exposed, and some plates were not
correctly sterilized when he left for a holiday (Diversified, 2021). When he
returned two weeks later, he found a blue-green mold had grown in some plates.
There was also a clear ring around the mold where bacteria had not grown. He
conducted a pure culture of the mold and found out that it was penicillium.
Fifteen years later, it was commercially produced as an antibiotic. The
discovery of penicillin was accidental since it came from a holiday, poor
laboratory methodology, and a smart mind.
An error involves
doing something wrong that leads to a discovery. In 1826, John Walker, a
British pharmacist, worked on an experimental paste for guns (Eschner, 2021). He
mistakenly scraped the wooden instrument he used in mixing the substances of
his paste and it caught fire. Walker used antimony sulfide, gum Arabic, and
potassium chlorate to produce a flammable paste with a little effort. In 1827,
he started selling his invention to locals, which quickly became popular.
Walker refused to patent his invention because he felt the burning Sulphur sometimes
dropped from the stick, damaging the user’s clothing or floors. Further
experimentations led to the production of the first matches that used white
phosphorus. It is fascinating to know that when mixing experimental paste for
guns, an accidental fire made it possible for people to quickly and efficiently
light fires.
Exaptation
involves remodeling an invention for another purpose. In 1876, Alexander Graham
Bell patented the telephone and produced it commercially (Harris, 2021). Shrewd executives
liked the invention since it could be used to make communication more efficient
and was immediately used in warehouses and offices. However, these telephones could
not record conversations. Thomas Edison later devised the telephone message recorder,
which was sold commercially. The device’s poor sound quality and finicky
machines discouraged people and businesses from purchasing it. In 1887, Emil
Berliner chose to trace sound waves in a flat disc instead of a cylinder, as used
by Edison. Berliner made a negative from the flat master disk as a mold to make
copies of the original master disc (Tiwari, 2021). The gramophone was used to
play these records and is now used in the music industry. The invention of the gramophone
is a repurposed innovation of the telephone.
The link to my blog is: https://innovationhu.blogspot.com/
References
Diversified, S. (2021). 12 Inventions Created by Mistake.
https://www.diversifiedspaces.com/2021/12/27/12-inventions-created-by-mistake/
Eschner, K. (2017). Friction Matches Were a Boom To Those
Lighting Fires- Not So Much To Matchmakers.
Harris, W. (2021). 10 New Uses for Old
Inventions.
Tiwari, A.
(2021). 15 Life-Changing Inventions That Were Actually Created By Mistake.
Comments
Post a Comment