Accidental Discoveries That Changed The World

This week Reactions takes a look at history of science and the many major discoveries that came accidentally. Sometimes they came from recognizing potential in an unexpected product or waste. Other times, discovery came out of pure desperation from a seemingly dead-end experiment. Here are some of those happy accidents that ended up changing the world.

Find us in all of these places:

Special thanks to the Chemical Heritage Foundation for their help on this episode!

Host/writer: Darcy Gentleman, Ph.D.
Animator/Producer: Sean Parsons
Co-writer/Co-producer: Noel Waghorn
Executive Producer: Adam Dylewski

[elinaoberemok]

So interesting! Makes me wonder if it's still possible to make so many accidental discoveries in our world, with so many technologies already available.

[larryvickers]

How do you not talk about penicillin when you talk about accidental discoveries?

[ZASurvivalist]

I love hearing about stuff like this.
Awesome. Makes me yearn to be a mad chemist!

[everynamewastakenomg]

Imagine how amazing it must have been to be a scientist during the industrial revolution.

[profjohnkeminah]

My name is Prof John K Eminah. While heating some metals with some mineral acids I observed that some lead acetate papers on my laboratory bench had turned black. I later discovered that one of my reactions produced hydrogen sulphide. I balanced the equation using alphabets as coefficients. It was an accidental discovery involving sulphuric acid and zinc that resulted in the production of atomic hydrogen. The atomic hydrogen reduced concentrated sulphuric acid to hydrogen sulphide. The paper describing the reaction was published in School Science Review in 2009. I later realised that some scientists had been trying to use atomic hydrogen as a rocket propellant.

[Riz]

Pretty cool how a mistake can cause something that is still used today.

[BinkieMcFartnuggets]

And of course the condom which was discovered by a very lonely man and his balloon.

[GuffeysGames]

Love to think of all the accidents that created the world we live in today.

[jimparsons]

Yep. Sometimes you weigh stuff out incorrectly because you made an arithmetic error. & the consequences of the experiment don't change and you end up scratching your chin.

[markrich]

Interesting video of inventions I didn’t know it was consider an accident

[IIllytchnonadinfinitum]

Albert Hoffman y LSD fue un buen ejemplo. Probably surprising as to how many discoveries were entirely by accident, heh. Oh well.

[SweatyBrick]

Who else is watching this during online/ home learning

[PHILANTHROPEMagazine]

Two PhD Physicists, a paper clip, some Scotch tape & BOOM! Graphene.
Thank you, science!

[AtrumNoxProductions]

Please tell me this is going to be a series!!

[lathamarea]

i had heard it took seven years of testing to get Teflon to stick to the actual pan..

[ClassifiedRanTom]

I wonder how many accidental discoveries were tossed out before being analyzed.

[TheChsenOne]

Fan fact:
"mauve" (written as "μωβ") is actually the greek word for purple!

[ThatShyGuyMatt]

186th viewer, 3rd post! :D Sorry, always wanted to be "that guy". lol. Great video btw. 

[CrooksAlan]

Wish the Royal Society of Chemistry would produce these - and get the pronunctian right ('kwai-nine' <grr>) . Also, being British, Perkin didn't 'see dollar signs' <grr>

[flipballaz]

cookie dough was found in a note suggestion from ben and jerry's r&d office
ice cream was found by accident when milk was frozen