Research Catalog

Title

The travels and adventures of serendipity : a study in historical semantics and the sociology of science / Robert K. Merton, Elinor Barber.

Author

Merton, Robert King, 1910-2003.

Publication

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, ©2004.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Barber, Elinor G.

Description

xxv, 313 pages; 25 cm

Summary

"From the names of cruise lines and bookstores to an Australian ranch and a nudist camp outside of Atlanta, the word serendipity - that happy blend of wisdom and luck by which something is discovered not quite by accident - is today ubiquitous. This book traces the word's eventful history from its 1754 coinage into the twentieth century - chronicling along the way much of wheat we now call the natural and social sciences." "The book charts where the term went, with whom it resided, and how it fared. We cross oceans and academic specialties and meet those people, both famous and now obscure, who have used and abused serendipity. We encounter a linguistic sage, walk down the illustrious halls of the Harvard Medical School, attend the (serendipitous) birth of penicillin, and meet someone who "manages serendipity" for the U.S. Navy."--Jacket.

Subject

• Serendipity in science
• Science > Social aspects
• Serendipiteit
• Wetenschapssociologie

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [299]-301) and indexes.

Contents

The origins of serendipity -- Early diffusion of serendipity -- Accidental discovery in science : Victorian opinion -- Stock responses to serendipity -- The qualities of serendipity -- Dictionaries and "serendipity" -- The social history of serendipity -- Moral implications of serendipity -- The diverse significance of serendipity in science -- Serendipity as ideology and politics of science.

ISBN

• 0691117543
• 9780691117546

LCCN

2003056327

OCLC

• ocm52455503
• 52455503
• SCSB-1317026

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library