Serendipity

The Unexpected in Science

By Telmo Pievani

2021

First Published

3.50

Average Rating

212

Number of Pages

6H26M

Audio Length

From the bestselling author of Imperfection, a theory of uncertainty as the very core of the scientific method—and the essence of its wonder. How many times have we looked for something and found something else? A partner, a job, an object? The same thing happens often to they design an experiment and discover the unexpected, which usually turns out to be very important. This fascinating phenomenon is called serendipity, which takes its name from the mythical Serendib, a place from which, according to a Persian fable, three princes set off to explore the world, making chance discoveries along the way. In Serendipity, the award-winning author of Imperfection Telmo Pievani returns to weave a compelling story about the unexpected in science and its fascinating role in our understanding of the world. Going far beyond the usual examples of penicillin, X-rays, the microwave oven, and Christopher Columbus, Pievani shows that the most surprising stories of serendipity in the history of science reveal profound aspects of the logic of scientific discovery. In this book, he presents for the first an archaeology of the idea; a taxonomy of serendipitous discoveries; an “ecology of serendipity” (the surrounding conditions and factors that can promote it); and lastly, a theory of serendipity (why it occurs so frequently in so many sciences). From Zadig to Sherlock Holmes, Pievani shows that such great discoveries are not just the product of luck. Instead, serendipity comes from a mix of cunning, curiosity, sagacity, imagination, and accidents caught on the fly. Serendipity illuminates how much we don’t know and how much we don't even know we don't know. Above all, Pievani reminds us that the human brain is of a piece with the world it is investigating—a world so much bigger than our knowledge—and it has also evolved within that world, adapting as it has to.

Avg Rating

3.50

Number of Ratings

149

5 STARS

17%

4 STARS

35%

3 STARS

34%

2 STARS

11%

1 STARS

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Author

Telmo Pievani

Author · 8 books

Telmo (Dietelmo) Pievani nasce a Gazzaniga (BG) il 6 ottobre 1970. Si laurea in filosofia della scienza a Milano con Giulio Giorello, poi prosegue gli studi negli USA, lavorando con Ian Tattersal e Niles Eldredge nel campo della filosofia della biologia. Dal 2001 al 2012 insegna presso l'Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca, e nel 2012 ottiene la prima cattedra italiana di Filosofia delle scienze biologiche presso il Dipartimento di Biologia dell'ateneo di Padova, dove insegna anche Antropologia. Oltre alle numerose pubblicazioni scientifiche, Pievani ha scritto opere di divulgazione molto apprezzate presso il grande pubblico e dedicate a tematiche evoluzionistiche e antropologiche. Ha curato la pubblicazione in italiano di opere dei principali filosofi della biologia (Richard Dawkins, Niles Eldredge, Stuart Kauffman, Ian Tattersal, Sean B. Carroll etc.) e di alcuni dei taccuini darwiniani. Collabora con quotidiani e riviste, tra cui il Corriere della Sera, La Stampa e Micromega, e tiene una rubrica bimestrale sulle Scienze, dedicata a scienza e filosofia. Dirige Pikaia, il portale italiano dell'evoluzione.