Serendipity

Serendipity is a word that is tough to be translated by people; however, it can simply be defined as the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. I believe serendipity happens to specialists, for the most part, because they have the knowledge and power to interpret serendipitous events in a beneficial manner. A Swiss chemist, Albert Hoffman, accidentally ingested LSD in his lab and found its properties. On the other hand, if a high school dropout would have ingested LSD, he or she would be totally clueless and would not be able to correctly interpret the event that took place, making it invaluable.

The number of potentially serendipitous events that take place everyday are probably countless but only those go down in the books of history that are interpreted correctly thus changing a way of life. For example, famous scientists such as Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin, and William Halsted, developer of the surgical glove, are knowledgeable people who had the brains required for making these discoveries take place. Scientists even openly admit to serendipity’s role in their breakthrough innovations and discoveries for the simple reason that they made these discoveries because they are specialists in their field of study. Therefore, in my opinion it is completely safe to say that serendipity has played an important role in science and technology. Louis Pasteur, a renowned French scientist, famously said, “In the fields of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.” This quote summarizes my thoughts on serendipity!