Anatomy of the Unsought Finding. Serendipity: Orgin, History, Domains, Traditions, Appearances, Patterns and Programmability

1 June 1994

journal article
Published by University of Chicago Press in The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science

Vol. 45 (2) , 631-648
https://doi.org/10.1093/bjps/45.2.631

Abstract

I define serendipity as the art of making an unsought finding. And I propose an overview of my collection of serendipities, the largest yet assembled, chiefly in science and technology, but also in art, by giving a list of ‘serendipity patterns’. Although my list of ‘patterns’ is just a list and not a classification, it serves to introduce a new and possibly stimulating perspective on the old subject of serendipity. Knowledge of these ‘serendipity patterns’ might help in expecting also the unexpected and in finding also the unsought.

Keywords

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:

The Way of an Investigator
The Lancet Healthy Longevity, 1966
LITHIUM SALTS IN THE TREATMENT OF PSYCHOTIC EXCITEMENT
The Medical Journal of Australia, 1949