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28th October, 2021

Many of the innovations we enjoy as everyday conveniences were born from mistakes. Your microwave, your Coca-Cola, your antibiotic prescription, and more, great value and luxury has come to us through the magic of tinkering, accidents, and spotting that something wasn’t quite right.

In my academic life, one of my most cited papers came from an unexpected result, a mistake. I used one chemical when I meant to use another. My results showed one peak when I was expecting to read another. It was noticing the supposed error that helped a curiosity evolve into a concerted pursuit of the new.

Today’s podcast is a reflection on a lecture I recently gave during a visit to the University of York, where I spoke about research from the perspective of the mistakes that facilitated an advance that I could have so easily dressed up as a product of design.

What mistakes have you made that could lead to unexpected wonders?

When might tinkering reveal truths that premediated design can only dream of?

If you have a question for Marc, upload an audio recording for it to be featured on a later Q&A episode!