MadSci Network: Science History
Query:

Re: What great discoveries came from failed experiments

Date: Fri Dec 31 21:39:31 1999
Posted By: Franklin Hays, Grad student, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Oklahoma State University
Area of science: Science History
ID: 944594329.Sh
Message:

What a great question!!! This is truly one of the beautiful things about science, you simply do the experiment and THEN deal with the results. I am sure books can be written on just great discoveries resulting from failure. I will provide just some examples I can think of off the top of my head, I encourage you to explore this further though as it is a great, and often overlooked, question.

The one that most people probably think of when asked this question is the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928. Penicillin is an antibiotic and was discovered through several mistakes, coincidences, and failures.

The discovery of the structure to DNA was another area rich in failure before the structure was determined. Watson and Crick originally had the structure BACKWARDS for the longest time, until they realized (with the help of others) that it needed to be turned around.

Another area is airplanes. If you look at the history of air travel it is littered with significant failures, many of which are very funny to look at now. Orville and Wilber Wright had MANY failures before they were able to fly an airplane at Kitty Hawk.

And finally, a look at the recent failures of NASA in their attempt to study Mars. These are all part of the learning experience and contribute to the eventual, and inevitable, exploration of Mars-a distant planet.

Again, this was a very good question. One thing you quickly learn in doing research of any kind is that failure is to be expected-it is all part of the learning curve. As long as you learn something from the failure, it may not even be a failure.

Best of wishes...


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