Although slightly casual, this commentary by Albert Einstein beautifully captures the unpredictability of research and development. Sometimes small errors can lead to revolutionary inventions for humanity, and many of these small errors have changed the world as we know it. Did you know that a peanut cluster bar led to the invention of the microwave, or that the invention of the Velcro was born by a pure error? Post-it, also, were born out of missing research (despite the claims made in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.
As indicated, the real estate developer, Albert M. Greenfield, once noted: “Luck is an accident that arrives at skills” (via Inspring Quotes). This also happens to persistence, as any inventor can testify
Believe it or not, the cardiac stimulator was not what the developer Wilson Greatbatch was there to create. The concept of the cardiac stimulator has existed since 1932, according to Concordia University. However, they were not as portable at the time and were supplied by an engine by hand. Not as practical as the automated machines we have today.
It was not until 1956, when Greatbatch – an engineer – worked on a device to record the pace of a human heart rate, that a very lucky accident occurred. He used bad -sized resistance in the circuit of his machine and accidentally discovered that his machine could execute electrodes directly on the muscle tissue of the heart. This accidental discovery finally led to smaller cardiac stimulators over time, which could possibly be implanted in the body of people – the first successful transplant which took place in 1960 and extending the life of the patient of 18 whole months.
Wilhelm Roentgen discovered radiographs and has changed the world. What you may not know, however, is that this revolutionary discovery was completely by chance. According to professional radiology, stimulating to study if the cathode rays could travel through an empty tube, he noticed that the tube had omitted a fairly strange glow when the high voltage was applied to positive and negative electrodes in the tube of the tube Cathode department.
Eyeful his interest, he started to cover the tube with black paper to see if the light was shining. At that time, he noticed that a screen nearby treated with baryum platinocyanure began to shine, which led him to conclude that a certain type of radiation must be at work. He appointed this X-ray radiation, the X representing the unknown. Other tests have led him to create the very first X -ray image of the bones of a human hand.
An interesting treat here – this famous image is in fact the hand of his wife, who, when he saw her, shouted: “I saw my death!” I am sure she was very happy that this discovery – with the image of her hand – won her the very first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 and would save countless lives on the road. Neither Roentgen nor his wife could have predicted that this discovery would become one of the most important discoveries in the world and the very cornerstone of modern medicine. A discovery, which is used in daily life around the world.