Soledad Romero Mariño
HAPPY ACCIDENTS Montse Galbany
Th wit e bo ok h mis the m os t all akes i t his tor n y
The Coffee Ethiopia — 600
Kaldi, an ethiop shepherd Walking his cattle up the high Kaffa slopes, shepherd Kaldi observed casually the amount of energy that their goats obtained eating the red fruit from some small wild bushes.
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The first cup of coffee was prepared with the seeds rescued from the fire in a small mosque in Ethiopia. It turned out to be a delightful drink and also an effective remedy against sleep. It’s consume, in time, conquered the whole world.
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Kaldi, attracted by the stimulating effect that this caused to his goats, recollected the fruit and gave it to the master of the Mosque from his village. The master analysed the founding and cooked a brevage. But the taste was too dry and intense, and wasted the fruit throwing it into the fire.
The Fireworks China — 820
An anonymous cook
In the kitchens of ancient China it was common to elaborate a blend of salt, sulphur and coal to preserve food longer. But one day, by accident, a cook brought the mixture too close to the fire and blew everything up.
Happy accident! A flood of lights and coloured fires illuminated the kitchen. The cook was amazed at the magical effect of its explosion and, without intending it, became the inventor of fireworks.
At the beginning they used them in small religious ceremonies. They believed that the explosions had the power to chase away ghosts and evil spirits. But later, during the Song dynasty, their use became widespread. People began to light and colour the skies during the great popular festivals. Over the centuries, the hands of the master craftsmen learned to control the delicate combustion by offering fantastic shows, considered to be works of art.
The Champagne France — 1670
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The monastery was in ruins, yet it was located among the fabulous vineyards of French Champagne. Pierre set out to save the monastery by creating the most exquisite wine in the world. The monk had the best grapes in France and also his exceptional palate. It
was said that thanks to his blindness, he had developed a magnificent capacity for taste. Pierre was able to know which vineyard the grapes he tasted came from. He worked hard during the whole year, but when the heat of spring arrived, the monk had to face a new challenge:
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Millions of small, sparkling bubbles appeared in the wine. The corks would pop out and the bottles would explode. The monk tried hard to avoid the uncontrollable bubbles, but was unsuccessful. It was then when, resigned to throwing away a whole year’s work, he decided to try his failed creation. Happy accident! When Pierre Pérignon drank his masterpiece, and experienced the taste and bubbling on his palate, he cried out full of happiness: “Come quickly! I’m drinking the stars!”. He had succeeded in creating champagne, one of the most exquisite wines in the world.
Pierre, from then on, used English glass bottles and tied the cork with wires to avoid the explosion. In the crisis he had found the opportunity and champagne conquered the most select tables as a symbol of celebration and joy.
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Happy accident! When Pierre Pérignon drank his masterpiece, and experienced the taste and bubbling on his palate
The Match England — 1826
John Walker was an English chemist and pharmacist. He used to spend the hours on the back of his pharmacy, doing experiments.
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One day, trying to create a new explosive, he mixed antimony sulphate, potassium chlorate, gum, starch and sugar. Walter carefully moved the mixture with a wooden stick when he noticed the formation of a solid residue on the end of the stick.
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The pharmacist tried to clean it by rubbing it against the floor and accidentally lit it.
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Walker started selling his discovery at his pharmacy. He called it “friction lights”. But, unfortunately he didn’t patent the invention and was Samuel Jones who sold the potential of the product, improved it and patented. Jones commercialised the matches under the name of “luciferou”, a word that means,
“light bearer”.
It allowed the human being to obtain fire immediately!
The match was a result of chance, but it meant one of the biggest inventions of history.
The X Rays Germany — 1895
Cathode ray tube
Wilhelm Röntgen
The physicist Wilhelm Röntgen did not like to attend long scientific conferences and conventions. In fact, his publications were not well received among his colleagues because of a lack of creativity. Well, exactly on November 8, 1895, the version of the history would change forever. Locked in the laboratory in the early hours of the morning, Rönteg observed the violet fluorescence emitted by cathode rays in the dark*. It was then that, thanks to the extraordinary darkness in which he worked, he happened to notice the faint greenish-yellow * A phenomenon linked to electricity recently discovered and highly studied by the physicists at the end of 19th century.
glow radiated by a screen with a layer of barium platinum cyanide that he had around the laboratory. Happy accident! Rönteg understood that the mysterious shining beamed by the crystals were powerful rays able to go through the material opaque. He called them X rays and during the next weeks he locked himself in the laboratory to do all sort of experiments. Because he was a passionate about photography, Röntgen had the idea to portray on photosensitive plates the effects of the rays through
Screen covered with barium platinocyanide
He scared himself to death when he photographed his wife’s hand. He could see the skeleton! several objects. He scared himself to death when he photographed his wife’s hand. He could see the skeleton! The X rays were able to go through the skin. This discovery would revolutionize forever the medicine. The doctors could now observe the interior of the human body! The results of his investigation were published, causing a big sensation among the scientific community. In 1901, Röntgen received the Nobel Prize of Physics thanks to his accidental discovery.
The Big Bang theory United States — 1930
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Arno Penzias
Robert Wilson
Around 1927, priest Georges Lemaître suggested that the Universe had been created because of a big explosion. It was later on when this theory started knowing as the Big Bang. Great scientists supported it; they even assured that this explosion had provoked a radiation that, nowadays, was still travelling across the Universe.
That radiation was baptized as CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background). But until that day, they were only unconfirmed theories. Some decades later, in New Jersey, the physics Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were working on a new type of antenna. But something went wrong. They started tuning some odd noise
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Happy accident! The physics had build an antenna capable to tune the sound of the radiation created by the big explosion
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that came from the space. They weren’t unable to silence it in any way the mysterious interferences and the antenna turned out to be a total failure.
Happy accident! The physics had build an antenna capable to tune the sound of the radiation created by the big explosion CMB. This discovery confirmed the theory of the Big Bang!
On 1978, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson won the Nobel Price. But, applying scientific justice, we should assign the credit that he well deserves to the physic, Robert Henry Dicke. It was him who knew how to interpret where did the strange noise came from, and he only received a pat on his shoulder for a job well done by his colleagues. C’est La Vie
Microwave United States — 1945
Spencer did not have an easy life. He lost his parents when he was a child and couldn’t attend school. Under his aunty and uncle watch, he began working in a mill until he was able to join the US Navy for technical training. When he came back, he worked at Raytheon. It was a company specialized in the manufacture of military components. Spencer’s work and contribution were brilliant. He proposed process improvements that managed to increase production from 17 to 2600 magnetrons* per day. One day, while Spencer was working in front of a magnetron, one of the milky bars he was carrying with him melted.
* Magnetrons are the main components of radars. Their function is to transform electrical energy into electromagnetic microwaves that the radar uses to measure distances and speeds, among other things.
Engineer Percy Spencer
Happy accident! That unfortunate and
The popcorns started sizzling around the lab!
sticky incident helped him realize that electromagnetic microwaves could head up food. Excited, he also put a bowl of corn kernels in front of the magnetron. The popcorns started sizzling around the lab! Spencer, immediately began designing and building the microwave oven. Only a few years later, the microwave was on sale and causing sensation in the most modern kitchens.
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There are people who make no mistakes because they never wish to do anything worth doing. Goethe (1749-1832) — German poet and playwright. In this book, the star guest is the mistake, miscalculation, improvisation, confusion and carelessness, which, thanks to the ingenuity and insight of their creators, became HAPPY ACCIDENTS. Discover the fabulous stories and adventures of those who transformed their mistakes into exceptional and amazing things.
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