Publisher Description

Have you ever wondered how the ideas for some things come about?

Surprisingly it is often as much down to chance as a single person's brilliance. The Accidental Scientist explores the role of chance and error in scientific, medical and commercial innovation, outlining exactly how some of the most well-known products, gadgets and useful gizmos came to be.

Encompassing everything from DNA profiling to fingerprinting and TNT to the telephone, this book explores many of the discoveries that we are all so familiar with today, yet have the most interesting origins because of the story behind them.

Not all discoveries require brilliance, and as The Accidental Scientist demonstrates, sometimes a special ingredient is needed: luck.

Author Biography

Graeme Donald is the author of a number of books about the meaning of words and popular misconceptions, including When the Earth was Flat. He has written for many newspapers and had a column about word origins in the Today newspaper for over ten years.

Promotional

Not all discoveries require brilliance, and as The Accidental Scientist demonstrates, sometimes a special ingredient is needed: luck.

Promotional "Headline"

Not all discoveries require brilliance, and as The Accidental Scientist demonstrates, sometimes a special ingredient is needed: luck.

Feature

The Accidental Scientist explores the incredibly important role chance and error have played in scientific, medical and commercial innovation

Details