Joe Corneli begin to shorten literature review  about 9 years ago

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required, are at least conducive to serendipity (Dynamic world,  Multiple contexts, Multiple tasks, Multiple influences). We shall relate these descriptions to some of the most famous examples of serendipity.  With the characteristics in mind it is not hard to spot further examples.  %% with similar characteristics: e.g. the invention of dry cleaning by  %% a professional dye-maker after his maid spilled kerosene on the  %% tablecloth, or the discovery of a marketable use for sildenafil  %% citrate (better known as {\em Viagra}\texttrademark) which had been  %% trialled as a heart medicine.  \begin{itemize}  \item The 17\textsuperscript{th} Century discovery that \emph{quinine} extracted from  the bark of South American cinchona trees could be used to treat and  prevent malaria -- building on a much earlier indigenous Quechua  discovery that the extract stops shivering.  \item Fleming's discovery of {\em penicillin}.\footnote{Merton and  Barber \citeyear{merton} state that the description of this discovery  was the first time that the word \emph{serendipity} was used without  inverted commas or accompanying definition.}  \item de Mestral's invention of {\em Velcro}\texttrademark\ following  the model presented by cockle-burs that stuck to his jacket while  out walking \cite[pp 220-222]{roberts}.  \item Arthur Fry's invention of sticky bookmarks (the prototype for  {\em Post-it}\texttrademark\ notes), using a weak glue developed by  his colleague, Spencer Silver \cite[p. 224]{roberts}.  \item Penzias and Wilson's discovery of the {\em echoes of the Big  Bang} \cite{singh2004big}.  \item Kekul\'e's dream-inspired discovery of the {\em structure of the  benzine ring} \cite[p. 21]{benfey}, cf. \cite[p. 77]{roberts}.  \item Charles Goodyear's invention of {\em vulcanised rubber}  \cite{goodyear1855gum}.  \item The {\em Rosetta Stone} was found by a soldier who was  demolishing a wall in order to clear ground for what was to be Fort  St. Julien \cite[pp. 109 - 111]{roberts}.  \end{itemize} % \input{basic-examples}  \subsubsection*{Key condition for serendipity} 

another man's gain'' than in scenarios where ``One man's trash is  another man's treasure.''  %  \newpage \subsubsection*{Environmental factors}  \paragraph{Dynamic world.}