Have you ever wondered how the ideas for some things come about? Surprisingly it is often as much down to chance as a single person's brilliance The Accidental Scientist explores the role of chance & error in scientific medical & commercial innovation outlining exactly how some of the most well-known products gadgets & useful gizmos came to be Encompassing everything from DNA profiling to fingerprinting & TNT to the telephone this book explores many of the discoveries that we are all so familiar with today yet have the most interesting origins because of the story behind them Not all discoveries require brilliance & as The Accidental Scientist demonstrates sometimes a special ingredient is needed luck