- Frank Herbert
There is just so much out there that's seemingly beyond understanding. Human behavior being top of the list. Maths too. And the natural world. It's all a massive jumble of interesting, thought provoking, question raising and frustrating facts and theories. But, this environment is a glasshouse for knowledge. A cognitive grow-bag, sprouting runners of investigation and contemplation.
Like the great swathes of empty space on Marlowe's map of the African continent, soon to be over-run with the inroads of civilisation, the more that we discover, the more questions we unearth, the more we're drawn into the Darkness.
So, Frank's right. Knowledge starts with the discovery something we don't understand. Something that our inquisitive ignorance gives room to grow, rather than truncating it with false knowledge.
There are the scientific discoveries, like X-rays and Penicillin, whose invention is synonymous with the auspicious stumblings of the technically minded. These are the kind of inventions that pose the big questions and add to societies collective knowledge. But you'll kind of, sort of, pretty much know about that already. Such is their position in modern folklore. So check them out.
Now, as you tip up the bag and let the last few crispy, salty morsels fall into your mouth, I bet you think your understanding on the subject is just about total. The empty bag, a fitting symbol of the limit of snack time discovery.
Well, it wouldn't be the Epistream if it ended there...
Lots of amazingly mundane, everyday things have been discovered by accident. And, although our understanding of crisps and silly putty may now feel absolute, this was not always the case.
I give you, the top ten discoveries that, until now, probably didn't seem too exciting!
- Fireworks - Having originated in China about 2,000 years ago, legend has it that they were accidentally invented by a cook who mixed together charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter. I assume that these items commonplace in the kitchens of era. The mixture burned quickly and when compressed in a bamboo tube, exploded.
- Crisps - Chef George Crum created the salty snack in 1853 at Moon's Lake House near Saratoga Springs, New York. Apparently, fed up with a customer who kept sending his fried potatoes back because they weren't crunchy enough, Crum sliced the potatoes as thin as possible, fried them in hot grease and doused them with salt. The "Saratoga Chips" became an over night success at the lodge and throughout New England. Eventually, the chips were mass-produced for home consumption, but since they were stored in barrels, they went stale very quickly. That was until the 1920s, when Laura Scudder invented the airtight bag by ironing together two pieces of waxed paper. This kept the crisps fresh for longer.
- Play-Doh - Accidentally invented in 1955 by Joseph and Noah McVicker while trying to make a wallpaper cleaner. It was marketed a year later by toy manufacturer Rainbow Crafts. More than 700 million pounds of Play-Doh have sold since then but to this day, the recipe remains top secret.
- Slinky - In 1943, naval engineer Richard James was in development of a spring that would support and stabilize sensitive equipment on ships. When one of the springs accidentally fell off a shelf, it continued moving, and James got the idea for a toy. His wife Betty came up with the name and the Slinky made its debut in late 1945. To date, more than 250 million Slinkys have been sold worldwide.
- Saccharin - Accidentally discovered in 1879 by researcher Constantine Fahlberg at Johns Hopkins University. Fahlberg's discovery came after he forgot to wash his hands before lunch. He had spilled a chemical on his hands now noticed the bread he was eating tasted unusually sweet. In 1880, Fahlberg jointly published the discovery with his professor, Ira Remsen. In 1884, Fahlberg obtained a patent and began mass-producing saccharin without Remsen. The use of saccharin did not become widespread until sugar was rationed during World War I. Its popularity shot up again during the 1960s and 1970s with the manufacture of Sweet'N Low and the introduction of diet soft drinks
- Post-it Note - The "small piece of paper with a strip of low-tack adhesive on the back" was conceived in 1974 by Arthur Fry as a way of holding bookmarks in his hymnal while singing in the church choir. He was aware of an adhesive accidentally developed in 1968 by fellow 3M employee Spencer Silver. No application for the lightly sticky stuff was apparent until Fry's "small piece of paper with a strip of low-tack adhesive on the back". The 3M company was initially skeptical about the product's profitability, but in 1980, the Post-it was introduced around the world.
- Silly Putty - It bounces, it stretches, it breaks. The silicone-based plastic clay was marketed as a children's toy by Binney & Smith, Inc. During WW2, while attempting to create a synthetic rubber substitute, James Wright dropped boric acid into silicone oil. The result was a polymerized substance that bounced but had no real use. That was, until 1950, when marketing expert Peter Hodgson saw its potential as a toy and renamed it Silly Putty. It also has many practical uses; picking up dirt; stabilizing wobbly furniture; stress reduction; physical therapy; and in medical and scientific simulations. It was even used by the crew of Apollo 8 to secure their tools in zero gravity
- Microwave - In 1945, Percy Spencer was experimenting with a new vacuum tube called a magnetron while doing research for the Raytheon Corporation. Intrigued by the melting chocolate bar in his pocket, he tried another experiment with popcorn. When it started popping, Spencer saw the potential in this revolutionary process. In 1947, Raytheon built the first microwave oven, the Radarange, which weighed 750 pounds, was 51/2 feet tall, and cost about $5,000.
- Corn Flakes - In 1894, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg was the superintendent of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan. He and his brother Will Keith Kellogg were Seventh Day Adventists and they were searching for wholesome foods to feed patients that also complied with the Adventists' strict vegetarian diet. When Will accidentally left some boiled wheat sitting out, it went stale by the time he returned. Rather than throw it away, the brothers sent it through rollers, hoping to make long sheets of dough, but they got flakes instead. They toasted the flakes, which were a big hit with patients, and patented them under the name Granose. The brothers experimented with other grains, including corn and in 1906, Will created the Kellogg's company to sell the corn flakes. On principle, John refused to join the company because Will lowered the health benefits of the cereal by adding sugar.
- Mauve - An 18-year-old chemist, William Perkin, wanted to cure malaria but instead his scientific endeavors changed the face of fashion forever. And, helped fight cancer. In 1856 Perkin was trying to come up with an artificial quinine. Instead of a malaria treatment, his experiments produced a thick murky mess. The more he looked at it, the more Perkin saw a beautiful color in his mess. This was the first-ever synthetic dye. His dye was far better than any dyes that came from nature; the color was brighter, more vibrant, and didn't fade or wash out. His discovery also turned chemistry into a money-generating science - making it attractive for a whole generation of curious-minded people. One of the people inspired by Perkin's work was German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich, who used Perkin's dyes to pioneer immunology and chemotherapy.
