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Happy Accidents: Serendipity in Modern Medical Breakthroughs | 
 enlarge | Author: Morton A. Meyers
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $17.99
Buy New: $9.58
You Save: $8.41 (47%)
New (25) Used (7) from $8.00
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 55235
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 390
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 155970845X
Dewey Decimal Number: 509
EAN: 9781559708456
ASIN: 155970845X
Publication Date: December 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
What do penicillin, chemotherapy drugs, X-rays, antidepressants, and Viagra have in common? They were each discovered accidentally, found in the search for something else. Winston Churchill once said, OMen occasionally stumble across the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing has happened.O Happy accidents take place every day, but it requires intelligence, insight, and creativity to recognize a OEureka!O moment when it occurs, and to know what to do next.Drawing on personal experience, research, and interviews with winners of the Nobel Prize and other prestigious awards, Morton A. Meyers uncovers the surprising role of serendipity in four major fields of medical advancesNinfectious disease, cancer, heart disease, and mental disorders. He exposes the factors that stifle innovation and proposes steps to foster a more creative approach to science. It may just save our lives!
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
The Three Princes of Serendip August 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Much like The Three Princes of Serendip from the old Persian fairy tale about three men who were on a mission but they always found something that was irrelevant but which they ultimately needed in reality, the author of Happy Accidents provides an excellent account of how serendipity has played such a vital role in revolutionary medical discoveries. However, let it be said that though luck played its part, "Chance only favors the prepared mind" - Louis Pasteur. Subsequently the author provides us with the discoveries of many prepared minds and divides the book up into four basic parts:
Part 1: Infectious Disease and Antibiotics
Part 2: War on Cancer
Part 3: The Mystery of the Heart
Part 4: Mood-Stabilizing Drugs & Other Psychotropics
Whether from the fabulous mold of Penicillin, or Australian guinea pigs for Lithium treatments, or to the worst Allied shipping disaster since Pearl Harbor for Nitrogen Mustards for the treatments for lymphomas, chance and unexpected results played its part in all of these, and more, in the history of medical discoveries.
Of all the money spent by Big Government medical research, this compilation of how discovery actually works should give one pause next time we hear the words "War on Whatever" as this money and research, in general, usually goes down a rat hole. In addition and as a cautionary concern, once big money starts its steamroller effect, it usually pushes creativity sadly out of the picture as one gets "your" idea or research is not what we are pursuing at this time.
All in, the book is recommended as there are thirty-nine (39) accounts of many discoveries which are entertaining and enlightening on the unexpected, creative, and prepared mind process.
Excellent but limited. January 21, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
Morton Meyers book, "Happy Accidents: Serendipity in Modern Medical Breakthroughs" is a thorough and well-written account of a diverse collection of medical events and discoveries in the applied science field of medicine. It is unclear if this was the author's intent or not, but most of the individual doctors, researchers, and scientists cited and discussed are Jewish. The role of Jewish intellectuals in fields as diverse as physics and psychiatry is well-documented. However, Dr. Morton misses few opportunities to celebrate Jewish achievements, culture, education, and history which are only tangentially-related to his main narrative about the role of chance in discovery. A few more examples from other cultures would have provided this balance, e.g. case studies from the African, Islamic and Oriental medical annals and establishment. Expanding the coverage of serendipity's role in research beyond medicine might have achieved this balance, since other fields of applied and pure science might also reveal a thought process different from that of Jewish doctors and scientists who have come from a culture with its roots in Jewish mysticism and its present-day manifestations of assimilation, economic prosperity and political influence.
 It's this perspective which makes HAPPY ACCIDENTS a highly recommended pick August 6, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
HAPPY ACCIDENTS: SERENDIPITY IN MODERN MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS tells of happy accidental discoveries in the world of science, documenting events and also providing insights into how these accidents came to be realized as beneficial. It's this perspective which makes HAPPY ACCIDENTS a highly recommended pick not just for general interest lending libraries, but for college-level collections strong in health science. Learning to recognize and assess unexpected and accidental results for their possible lessons and benefits is key to any researcher's success: the author draws on both personal experience and research and interviews with winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine and other awards to document this process of discovery.
 Uneven August 6, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
About: How scientists discovered groundbreaking medical treatments when they were looking for something else
Pros: Interesting, bibliography included
Cons: Some stories are more interesting than others
Grade: B
A light-hearted book with some serious suggestions July 28, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
When I first started this book, I considered it nothing more than a bunch of fun anecdotes about medical discoveries. About two-thirds of the way through I realized that Meyers is making a serious point about how science really progresses. Huge projects are much less likely to make breathrough discoveries than scientists piddling around with whatever interests them. Some relatively minor changes in the way science is funded and organized could make a big difference in the return on research dollars. My own experience as a chemist in the pharmaceutical industry and as a patent attorney tends to support Meyers.
I am not so sure that Meyers has hit the nail on the head when it comes to science education. I agree that science is presently taught very poorly. However, I think part of the problem is the numerous educational reforms that have been put in place over the years, with little or no evidence that they work. The result is that many bright kids today leave school not only uninspired, but without a solid understanding of the subject. I would like to see more research on the actual education received by noted scientists--also better quality of educational research in general.
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