Awesome Accidental Discoveries and Inventions in Science

---

Add caption

There are lot of things in science which are being invented by accident and such inventions have happened in the past, happening in the present and will happen in the future. It is not going to end. The fascinating fact is that many such inventions have happened in the past, which means, a scientist trying to invent something, invents something else accidentally. This Arivu Dose tells you about 5 such accidental inventions.

In 1907, Leo Baekeland tried to invent an artificial resin to replace the natural resin called Shellac. But he didn’t invent artificial resin. Accidently he invented the Plastic and has become the sole reason for the abundant plastic usage in the present.

In 1878 Constantin Fahlberg, a chemist forgot to wash his hands. When he tasted his fingers after going home, it tasted sweet. It led to the accidental discovery of the artificial sweetener, saccharine, used by Diabetic patients these days.

In 1945, Percy Spencer, who was researching about Radar, noticed that the chocolates in his pockets were melting during those researches. This led to the invention of Microwave Owen.

This 4th invention is undoubtedly accidental but the person responsible for it is not known. After 1772, nitrous oxide was used as laughing gas for so many years. It was later found that when nitrous oxide is inhaled in large quantity, it causes unconsciousness but people were unaware of this usage. Only in 1844, Horace Wells, a dentist, accidentally discovered that it can be used as an anesthetic agent. He noticed that when his friend who inhaled nitrous oxide in large quantity fell down and got a cut injury. But he didn’t feel the pain. This led to the basis of modern anesthesia.

The most important discovery in the medical field happened accidently. In 1928, Alexander Fleming was researching on influenza virus. When he returned back from vacation he noticed that he has forgotten to close one of the dishes with a bacteria called Staphylococci. When he came to discard it, he noticed the growth of fungi on it. The amazing thing is that the bacteria have spread all over the dish except in places where there was fungus. He accidentally discovered that the bacteria are avoiding the fungi and ultimately invented penicillin. This antibiotic saves us from lot of infections.

There are so many inventions and discoveries made accidentally. One thing has led to another and has changed the course of human life. So, don’t lose hope. When your food tastes different next time, try to find out why. You may find something that changes the whole world