Not every wonderful breakthrough in science and technology was created intentionally. A chance discovery or invention is an unexpected realization and insight that occurs without direct intention. In the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, the word “chance” has been defined precisely as a suitable time or occasion to do something. The role of chance in science comprises all ways in which unexpected inventions and discoveries are made. Psychologist Kevin Dunbar estimated that between 30 and 50 per cent of all scientific breakthroughs are accidental in some sense.

Louis Pasteur’s famous maxim reads: “Chance favours only the prepared mind,” which Steven Johnson modified to “Chance favours the connected mind”. The discovery of gravity by Sir Issac Newton was not a pure chance discovery. In Newton’s time, there were several theories about the nature of gravity. To explain the discovery of laws of gravitation by Newton, Swami Vivekananda commented that the fact of gravitation already occupied the mind of Newton before the fall of the apple he witnessed. Indeed, the fall of the apple was a pivotal moment that catalyzed a period of intense thought and groundbreaking work on his theory of universal gravitation.

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When one apple fell, Newton was disturbed and the event favoured his prepared mind to frame the laws of gravitation. Many major advancements ~ from life-saving antibiotics like penicillin and medicine for heart disease, to everyday modern items such as Teflon, corn flakes and even Coca-Cola ~ are products of chance discoveries or serendipity. Other world-changing breakthroughs includes X-rays, the microwave oven, the artificial sweetener Saccharin, and even the discovery of radioactive elements and dynamites, all of which originated from unexpected results in labs or from unusual observations. The list of items mentioned here is only a selection of breakthroughs so far.

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The discovery of penicillin, one of the world’s first antibiotics, marks a true turning point in human history ~ when doctors finally had a tool that could completely cure their patients of deadly infectious diseases. As the story goes, Dr. Alexander Flemming, the bacteriologist at St. Mary Hospital, enjoyed a two-week long summer vacation having left out a petri dish containing staphylococcus. Upon return, Dr. Flemming discovered that the staphylococcus had developed a layer of mold called penicillium notatum.

After placing the dish under his microscope, he was amazed to find that the mold prevented the normal growth of staphylococcus. His conclusion turned out to be phenomenal: there was a........

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