The many tales of seemingly accidental drug discoveries are often considered to be examples of "serendipity." There’s actually an intriguing story of where this word comes from, and how it reflects a kind of cognitive process that may be affected by the advent of information technology. It turns out that "serendipity" comes from The Three Princes of Serendip, first published in 1557 by Michele Tramezzino, but also draws on stories from the Talmud as well as Indian and Persian folklore.
It is thought to derive from the life of the 5th century AD Persian king Bahram V, but is presented as the story of a king of Serendip (Sri Lanka). His Highness, it seems, grew weary and wished to step down. Each of his sons, however, pleaded with him that they were not yet ready. In response, the fatigued father suggested they complete their education by traveling to foreign lands before accepting the responsibilities of the throne. Along the way, they come across unplanned experiences from which they were able to draw remarkable conclusions.
On one of their excursions, for instance, they deduced that their road was recently traveled by a camel blind in the right eye, because only the grass on the left side, which was less green, had been eaten. (Actually, the full story is much more elaborate: They determined moreover that the camel had lost a tooth, carried honey on the right side and butter on the left, and was ridden by a pregnant woman, all based on their careful observations.) For their trouble, they were accused of having stolen the camel, and barely avoided prosecution by explaining how they had come to their conclusions.
Such reasoning is thought to have influenced Voltaire in writing Zadig, a philosophical novella set in ancient........