Serendipity, Luck and Wisdom in Research

About the Book

"I've known the author circa fifty years; then, a young broad-based scientist with a good sense of humor; now, a broader-based scientist with a great sense of humor. Who better to develop an obsession with an unfunny, tantalizing, and unquantifiable topic like serendipity and produce a gem of a book analyzing its vital importance in the past and its great need in the future?"

-James A. Young, chemist

"Surprise! I didn't see that coming! P. J. Hannan has ably documented the major role of fortuitous findings in scientific progress."

-Clifford M. Gordon, physicist

"Hannan writes the story of serendipity in research where scientific egos, luck, and the'Hand of God' clash for credit."

-Michael A. Champ, marine scientist

What good might come out of a graduate student's carelessness in dropping a vial of a valuable platinum solution on the laboratory floor? Is it reasonable to think that many Nobel Prizes stemmed, at least in part, on serendipitous circumstances? These and many other situations are described in this illuminating book that will be enjoyed by all who like a good story.

About the Author

The author received his BS and MS degrees in chemistry from Catholic University, Washington, DC, and spent more than forty years in research. His career began with the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, after which he worked for the U.S. government, including thirty-one years at the Naval Research Laboratory. He works now on a part-time basis in the Office of Pesticide Programs at the Environmental Protection Agency.