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.
The atom, the big bang, DNA, natural selection -- all are ideas that have revolutionized science; and all were dismissed out of hand when they first appeared. The surprises haven't stopped in recent years, and in At the Edge of Uncertainty, author Michael Brooks investigates the new wave of radical insights that are shaping the future of scientific discovery.
