Everyone knows that Mendeleev saw the periodic table of elements in a dream. However, it is worth mentioning that he spent many years on this work, and the dream became its logical conclusion. Nevertheless, history shows that some great discoveries are pure chance. We have compiled a list of these inventions that "accidentally" changed the world in which we live.
1. Reinforced concrete
In 1867, the French gardener Joseph Monier presented his invention at the Paris Exposition. It was a flower pot with a built-in iron net. Monier worked in the Tuileries Gardens, where he cultivated orange trees. In summer, plants that were grown in cement containers were taken outside, and in winter they were moved to a glass greenhouse. Due to temperature fluctuations, these cement containers always cracked and collapsed.
To strengthen them, Monier began experimenting with an iron mesh, which he built into the molds of concrete containers. In the course of his experiments, Monier noticed that the most durable containers were those in which the iron rods were placed both horizontally and vertically. Perhaps he had previously heard of similar experiments with concrete and iron, but he was the first to try to strengthen concrete not only with iron bars, but also with iron mesh.
2. Nobel Prize
In 1888, Alfred Nobel was surprised to read in a French newspaper his own obituary entitled "The Merchant in Death is Dead." In fact, there was a mistake, because Alfred's brother Ludwig Nobel died in a hospital in Cannes.
Reading his obituary, the inventor of dynamite wondered what legacy he would leave after his death. Alfred did not want to be called the "merchant of death." Therefore, he changed his will, deciding to use his fortune to create a series of prizes for those people who will bring "the greatest benefit to humanity" in various fields of science.
3. Protective glass
In 1903, French scientist Edward Benedict was working in his laboratory. He was taking the chemicals he needed from the back shelf, accidentally hitting a glass flask, and it fell to the floor. Looking down at the broken flask, Benedict noticed something quite interesting: it did not turn into a pile of glass, as one would expect. Although numerous cracks appeared on the flask, it still retained its shape. It turned out that earlier the flask contained cellulose nitrate, the remains of which dried on the walls of the vessel and did not allow it to break.
At that time, ordinary glass was used for car windows, the fragments of which during accidents could greatly harm the driver and passengers. After reading about a car accident in which people were injured in the newspaper, Benedict began to experiment and still managed to invent protective glass. It consisted of two sheets of glass with a layer of cellulose nitrate between them. When heated, the cellulose melts and adheres tightly to the glass sheets. The scientist patented this "sandwich", which he called a triplex. The first to start using it for cars was Henry Ford. This happened in 1919.
4. RadioactivityIn 1896, French scientist Henri Becquerel conducted experiments and accidentally obtained X-rays. He tried to understand if there was a connection between X-rays and uranium salts.
For his experiment, Becquerel used a mineral that contained uranium salts. For some time he held it in the sunlight, and then put it together with a metal object on a photographic plate, where a certain "photographic" image soon appeared. However, this image was not very clear, so he assumed that the problem was a lack of sunlight, and postponed the experiment until a sunny day. But since nature did not want to cooperate with him and there were still no bright sunny days, Becquerel put the mineral and photographic paper aside, wrapping them in a dark cloth along with the Maltese cross. A few days later, he saw an image of a cross on film and assumed that the radiation had nothing to do with sunlight. Further studies of the mysterious "rays" led to the discovery of radioactivity,for which Henri Becquerel, along with Pierre and Marie Curie, received the Nobel Prize in 1903.
5. Anesthesia In 1844, Horace Wells attended a performance by Gardner Quincy Colton, a famous showman and chemist at the time. The showman suggested that the clerk of the local pharmacy inhale nitrous oxide, under the influence of which the "subject" did not feel pain when he hit his feet on a wooden bench during the jump. The next day, Wells began experimenting on himself, inhaling nitrous oxide when a colleague removed his tooth. The operation was painless, so the doctor decided to use this gas for his patients.
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When Wells decided to demonstrate to his colleagues how nitrous oxide works, his experiment failed, probably because the gas dosage was too low. The patient began to scream, and the colleagues only laughed at Wells. Further attempts to use this method of anesthesia have also failed. In addition, at this time, chloroform and ether were widely used, so nitrous oxide was forgotten for some time. Wells committed suicide in 1848. Almost 20 years later, Colton remembered Wells's method. Thanks to his work, nitrous oxide began to be used in America, and then in Europe.
6. BotoxIn 1987, Vancouver-based ophthalmologist Jean Carruthers first used Botox, a neurotoxin that temporarily paralyzes muscles. The drug was administered to a woman who suffered from blepharospasm, a symptom that causes the eyelids to close involuntarily.
After a while, the patient turned to Dr. Carruthers for another injection. Jean said that this was not necessary, since the blepharospasm had disappeared, and then the woman said that after the first injection, the skin around her eyes looked better and younger. Dr. Carruthers suggested that her husband Alastair Carruthers (a dermatologist at the same clinic) try Botox for treating wrinkles. Together with Katie Swann, Jean became the first patient who was injected with Botox not for treatment, but in order to remove wrinkles. Anna Pismenna