Serendipity in Scientific Discoveries: Some Examples in Glycosciences

Abstract

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, serendipity is “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.” Serendip (or Serendib) was the name for the island of ancient Sri Lanka and was thought to be a corruption of the Sanskrit compound Simhaladvipa (“Dwelling-Place-of-Lions Island”). The Arabs are thought to have borrowed the name from Indians with whom they traded. The word “serendipity” was coined by an eighteenth-century English author/politician, Horace Wolpole, who wrote a novel, The Three Princes of Serendip, based on a purported Persian fairy tale. Actually, the first book of The Three Princes of Serendip was published in 1557 by M. Tramezzino and was perhaps a collection of ancient Indian fables. Tennett wrote [1]: “In ancient times there existed in the country of Serendippo, in the Far East, a great and powerful king by the name of Giaffer. He had three sons who were very dear to him. And being a good father and very concerned about their education, he decided that he had to leave them endowed not only with great power, but also with all kinds of virtues of which princes are particularly in need.” Thus, began the voyage of the three princes of Serendip. At any rate, in the Wolpole book, the heroes in the novel (the princes) often made discoveries by chance and sagacity. The novel was a great success, and the expression of “serendipity” has become quite popular since then. One of the better known stories in the novel is the case of a camel blinded in one eye. During their trip, the princes were stopped by a camel driver who asked them if they had seen one of his camels, which was missing. Although they had not seen the camel, they noticed the signs of the camel and mystified the camel driver by asking him if his missing camel was blind in one eye (because the princes saw that the grass was eaten on one side of the road), missing one tooth (the cuds of grass on the ground indicated a tooth gap), and lame (the traces of a dragged hoof). The camel driver was tremendously impressed by their astute observations and prudence and immediately hurried off to pursue the missing camel.