Serendipity is a common type of innovation where discovery or invention occurs unexpectedly. There are dozens of serendipity innovations, including famous discoveries such as the microwave oven, ice cream cones, champagne, the post-it note, potato chips, the slinky, and superglue. One of the most significant inventions from serendipity is penicillin. As the story goes, in 1928, Dr. Alexander Fleming, a bacteriologist, returned to his laboratory after a vacation to notice a mold, Penicillium notatum had contaminated a petri dish and stopped the growth of staphylococci. After some time reproducing the mold, Dr. Fleming confirmed the finding that penicillin limits bacteria growth and is reproducible, paving the way for disease treatment. Dr. Fleming and his partners developing penicillin into an antibiotic were awarded the Nobel prize in 1945 (Markel, 2013).

Innovation due to error occurs when there is an attempt to produce a specific product, resulting from a mistake, and entirely new artifact surfaces. Serendipity and error are often confused with each other but have a distinct difference. Serendipity occurs because of typical research, for example, where trial and error might yield a discovery. Error is precisely that, the product of a mistake. An example of an invention through error is the pacemaker. In 1956, Wilson Greatbatch, a professor at the University of Buffalo, developed a device to tape heart tones. He mistakenly used the wrong radio, and instead of detecting tones, the device produced an electrical vibration, which perfectly paralleled that of the human heart. If Dr. Greatbatch had not made the error of choosing the wrong device, the pacemaker would not have come to fruition (Williamson, 2011).

Exaptation is the act of leveraging an invention in a new or different way producing a new artifact. In Individual Project #2 available on my blog, I discussed how researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, repurposed the Millimeter-Wave Body Scanner, used widely in airport terminals for the detection of plastic explosives, for the fashion industry. In the retail space, the body scanner can provide exact measurements for custom-fit apparel. Another example is the military vehicle, the Stryker, used by the United States Army. The Stryker was originally an interim vehicle intended to function as a temporary option until the Future Combat Systems program produced a superior product. However, the Army repurposed the vehicle where it is now a core component of its mobile warfare fleet (Goure, 2018).

References

Goure, D. (2018). Modernization with a repurpose: Sometimes it's better to upgrade than replace. Assocation of the United States Army. https://www.ausa.org/articles/modernization-repurpose-sometimes-it%E2%80%99s-better-upgrade-replace 

Markel, D. H. (2013). The real story behind penicillin. PBS News Hour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/the-real-story-behind-the-worlds-first-antibiotic 

Williamson, M. (2011). Wilson Greatbatch: Inventor of the implantable cardiac pacemaker. Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/wilson-greatbatch-inventor-implantable-cardiac-pacemaker-2363206.html