The unintended Eureka.
Curve balls in a linear world.
The human world is one of organised expectation, with codified systems and procedures designed and developed to remove risk. But some of the greatest discoveries and inventions of all time have been a result of random events and serendipitous circumstances. First coined by English writer Horace Walpole in 1754, ‘Serendipity’ describes an unplanned yet fortunate discovery: ‘of things which they were not in quest of’, as Walpole wrote. The list of inventions that were stumbled upon by chance is long and significant: The Post-It Note, Viagra, In-vitro fertilization, the gramophone, x-rays, Penicillin, the microwave, Champagne, smear tests and the humble tea bag to name but a few.