Designing for (un)serendipity - computing and chance
The tale of a lame, one-eyed, toothless camel may not, at first glance, seem an auspicious start for ground-breaking discoveries of penicillin, X-rays and chocolate chip cookies. However, when Horace Walpole coined the word serendipity in 1754, based on the tale of 'The Three Princes of Serendi...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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2009-12-01.
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| Online Access: | Get fulltext |
| Summary: | The tale of a lame, one-eyed, toothless camel may not, at first glance, seem an auspicious start for ground-breaking discoveries of penicillin, X-rays and chocolate chip cookies. However, when Horace Walpole coined the word serendipity in 1754, based on the tale of 'The Three Princes of Serendip' and the aforementioned camel, he was giving name to the accidental sagacity (i.e. accidental wisdom) involved in many scientific discoveries and inventions, where there is "no discovery of a thing you are looking for". |
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