1.青霉素的發(fā)現(xiàn)

The Principle of Limited Sloppiness is a phrase used to describe fortuitous or accidental discoveries (we're talking screwups) that actually helped humankind. The best-known example was by Alexander Fleming. Halfway through an experiment with bacteria, he up and went on vacation. Slob that he was, he left a dirty petri dish in the lab sink. When he got back, he found bacteria had grown all over the plate, except in an area where mold had formed. That discovery led to two things: 1) penicillin and 2) Mrs. Fleming hiring a maid.

所謂“有限馬虎原則”指的是那些最后對(duì)人類有實(shí)在好處的偶然或意外的發(fā)現(xiàn)（實(shí)際這些發(fā)現(xiàn)一開始就是被搞砸了……）。最有名的例子來(lái)自亞歷山大弗雷名，他把細(xì)菌試驗(yàn)做到一半就跑去度假了。而馬虎如他，把一個(gè)臟培養(yǎng)皿丟在實(shí)驗(yàn)室的水池里。等他回來(lái)，他發(fā)現(xiàn)細(xì)菌已經(jīng)長(zhǎng)滿了整個(gè)培養(yǎng)皿，除了一小塊有霉菌的地方?jīng)]有。這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)導(dǎo)致了兩個(gè)后果：1.青霉素的發(fā)明；2.弗雷名太太雇了一個(gè)女傭。

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2.白蘭地的發(fā)明

Inventor: A Dutch shipmaster
Year: 16th century
What Happened: He used heat to concentrate wine in order to make it easier to transport, with the idea of adding water to reconstitute it when he arrived.
Big Discovery: Concentrated wine is better than watered-down wine.
As a result: "Burnt wine," or "brandewijn" in Dutch, became a big hit. Call it brandy, since after a few drinks of the stuff, there's no way you can pronounce brandewijn so a bartender can understand what you're ordering.

發(fā)明者：一個(gè)荷蘭船長(zhǎng)
時(shí)間：16世紀(jì)
事情發(fā)生的經(jīng)過(guò)：為了讓紅酒更方便運(yùn)輸，船長(zhǎng)加熱紅酒使其濃縮，到了目的地之后再加水稀釋它。
大發(fā)現(xiàn)：濃縮后的紅酒比用水稀釋的好喝（這不廢話……）
結(jié)果：在荷蘭，“燒著的紅酒”或者“brandewijn”變的大受歡迎。而幾杯酒下肚之后，很明顯你就發(fā)不清“brandewijn”這種音。所以為了讓酒吧吧員知道你在點(diǎn)什么，人們簡(jiǎn)稱這種酒為“brandy”,也就是如今大名鼎鼎的白蘭地。

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3.麻醉劑的發(fā)明

Inventor:? Horace Wells
Year: 1844
What Happened: In its salad days, nitrous oxide was strictly a party toy, since it made people howl like hyena. But a friend of the dentist took too much of the stuff at a laughing-gas stage show and gashed his leg.
Big Discovery: The friend hadn't realized he'd hurt himself.
As a result: Nitrous oxide became an early form of anesthesia.

發(fā)明者：豪斯威爾
時(shí)間：1844年
事情發(fā)生的經(jīng)過(guò)：在一氧化氮（又稱笑氣）使用初期，它是標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的派對(duì)玩意兒。因?yàn)槿藗兾怂蜁?huì)像土狼一樣亂嚎。直到某次，一個(gè)牙醫(yī)的朋友吸了太多，而他劃傷了自己的腳。
大發(fā)現(xiàn)：這位腳受傷的仁兄根本不覺得痛。
結(jié)果：笑氣因而變成麻醉劑的早期形式。

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4.糖精的發(fā)現(xiàn)

Inventors: Constantin Fahlberg and Ira Remsen
Year: 1879
What Happened: After spending the day studying coal tar derivatives, Fahlberg left his Johns Hopkins laboratory and went to dinner.
Big Discovery: Something he ate tasted particularly sweet, which he traced to a chemical compound he'd spilled on his hand. Best of all, it turned out to be calorie-free.
As a result: He cut Remsen and the university out of millions of dollars when he secretly patented the breakthrough discovery, saccharin.

發(fā)明者：康斯坦丁法堡和伊拉雷森
時(shí)間：1879年
事情發(fā)生的經(jīng)過(guò)：在研究了一整天的煤礦衍生物之后，法堡離開他約翰霍金大學(xué)的實(shí)驗(yàn)室回家吃晚飯。
大發(fā)現(xiàn)：他吃到了某種特別甜的東西（明顯不是晚飯本身），于是他追溯到了自己手上沾到的某種化學(xué)成分（滬江小編注：糖精，從煤焦油中提取的物質(zhì)。）而且最棒的是，這種糖精完全沒有熱量。
結(jié)果：法堡摒棄了伊拉（指導(dǎo)他完成論文的導(dǎo)師）和所在大學(xué)，偷偷申請(qǐng)了糖精的專利……

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5.橡皮泥的發(fā)明

Inventor:? James Wright
Year: 1943
What Happened: During the war years, the General Electric engineer combined silicone oil and boric acid in an attempt to find a cheap alternative to rubber for tank treads, boots, etc.
Big Discovery: It didn't work. But the scientists had a blast bouncing and stretching his mistake, when they weren't using it to transfer comics onto paper.
As a result: Kids had a blast playing with the Silly Putty too.

發(fā)明者：詹姆斯懷特
時(shí)間：1943年
事情發(fā)生的經(jīng)過(guò)：在戰(zhàn)時(shí)，通用的工程師將硅油和硼酸混合、試圖制造出能用于坦克、靴子的橡膠。
大發(fā)現(xiàn)：他的嘗試沒有成功，但科學(xué)家們重新設(shè)計(jì)和延伸了這項(xiàng)發(fā)明。
結(jié)果：孩子們開始普遍地玩橡皮泥。

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6.口香糖的發(fā)明

Inventor: Thomas Adams
Year: 1870
What Happened: He was experimenting with chicle, the sap from a South American tree, as a substitute for rubber. After mounting failures, the dejected inventor popped a piece into his mouth.
Big Discovery: He liked it!
As a result: Adams New York No. 1 became the first mass-produced chewing gum in the world. 口香糖

發(fā)明者：湯馬斯亞當(dāng)
時(shí)間：1870年
事情發(fā)生的經(jīng)過(guò)：他在用chicle，一種南美洲的樹液做實(shí)驗(yàn)，以尋找橡膠的替代物。在無(wú)數(shù)次失敗后，這個(gè)郁悶的發(fā)明家干脆丟了一塊到嘴里！
大發(fā)現(xiàn)：他居然喜歡！
結(jié)果：亞當(dāng)紐約一號(hào)成為了世界上第一個(gè)大批量生產(chǎn)的口香糖！

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7.微波爐的發(fā)明

Inventor: Percy Spencer
Year: 1946
What Happened: With the end of World War II, the Raytheon engineer was looking for other uses for the magnetron, which generated the microwaves for radar systems. While Spencer was standing next to the device one day, a chocolate bar in his pocket melted.
Big Discovery: The magnetron worked even better on popcorn.
As a result: Orville Redenbacher became very rich.

發(fā)明者：帕西斯賓塞
時(shí)間：1946年
事情發(fā)生的經(jīng)過(guò)：二戰(zhàn)結(jié)束之際，雷聲公司的工程師想為磁控管尋找新買家。磁控管在二戰(zhàn)中用以給雷達(dá)系統(tǒng)提供微電波。當(dāng)斯賓塞某天站在設(shè)備旁，他發(fā)現(xiàn)他口袋里的一條巧克力融化了。
大發(fā)現(xiàn)：磁控管被用以制造微波爐，用它來(lái)做爆米花效果更好！
結(jié)果：Orville Redenbacher（美國(guó)著名爆米花品牌）變得很富有！

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8.合成染料的發(fā)明

Inventor: William Perkin
Year: 1856
What Happened: He was intent on discovering a cure for one of the deadliest diseases in the world, malaria.
Big Discovery: While trying to replicate the malaria fighter quinine in his laboratory, Perkin inadvertently discovered the color mauve instead.
As a result: Perkin forgot about malaria and made a mint establishing the synthetic dye industry.

發(fā)明者：威廉帕金
時(shí)間：1856年
事情發(fā)生的經(jīng)過(guò)：他本來(lái)是試圖制造瘧疾藥奎寧的……
大發(fā)現(xiàn)：當(dāng)他把制造奎寧的原料放入反應(yīng)鍋中，竟意外地發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種淡紫色（滬江小編：世界上第一種人工合成、非天然的顏色）。
結(jié)果：帕金由此忘記了瘧疾，轉(zhuǎn)而發(fā)展合成染料工業(yè)。

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9.肉毒桿菌在美容上的應(yīng)用

Inventors: Alastair and Jean Carruthers
Year: 1987
What Happened: The couple were using small doses of a deadly toxin to treat "crossed eyes" eyelid spasms and other eye-muscle disorders when they noticed an interesting side effect.
Big Discovery: Wrinkles magically disappeared.
As a result: The expressionless face became the "it" look, thanks to Botox.

發(fā)明者：卡盧瑟夫婦
時(shí)間：1987年
事情發(fā)生的經(jīng)過(guò)：這對(duì)夫妻本來(lái)是小劑量地使用這種致命毒素（肉毒桿菌）來(lái)治療斗雞眼和其他眼部肌肉疾病的，而他們卻發(fā)現(xiàn)了藥物的一些副作用。
大發(fā)現(xiàn)：副作用就是，眼部周圍的皺紋都奇跡般的消失了！
 結(jié)果：肉毒桿菌被大量運(yùn)用于美容界，雖然注射之后會(huì)導(dǎo)致整張臉僵硬！

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10.偉哥的發(fā)明

Inventors: Scientists at Pfizer
Year: 1992
What Happened: A Welsh hamlet was ground zero for a test on a pill to fight angina. Unfortunately for the afflicted, it had little success against the disease.
Big Discovery: Though it didn't work, the men taking part in the study refused to give up their medicine.
As a result: The scientists switched gears and marketed the drug, Viagra, for a very different purpose.

發(fā)明者：Pfizer公司的科學(xué)家們
時(shí)間：1992年
事情發(fā)生的經(jīng)過(guò)：為尋找治療心絞痛的解藥，一個(gè)威爾士小村莊被夷為平地。盡管損失巨大，科學(xué)研究卻沒有取得任何進(jìn)展。
大發(fā)現(xiàn)：盡管沒有成功，參與研究的人員卻拒絕放棄他們的藥。
 結(jié)果：科學(xué)家們把研究轉(zhuǎn)向，終于把名為Viagra（中文名稱艾萬(wàn)可，不用明說(shuō)了吧……）投入市場(chǎng)，而目的卻與剛開始大相徑庭。

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