Super Glue demonstrates the art of the unexpected
Harry Coover receives the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Obama last November (Getty).
It helped specially strengthen a bridge near Rotherham. It was used in the Vietnam War to patch together the internal organs of injured soldiers. And it even helped repair the engine of the space shuttle Discovery.
Superglue has been put to some surprising uses over the years and along the way become a household name. Now Harry Wesley Coover Jr, the man who invented it, has died.
Although Coover was an accomplished inventor, with more than 400 patents to his name as well as the American National Medal of Technology and Invention, I was fascinated to discover that he chanced upon the formula for Superglue by accident.
He was among those who developed the adhesive in a search for materials to make clear plastic gun sights during the Second World War. But it was rejected by researchers because it stuck to everything – only to be re-developed and finally marketed as Superglue in 1958.
And I’ve been even more fascinated to discover just how many inventions have come about by chance or accident.Post-it notes and ink-jet printers in the office…kitchen accessories like Cellophane, Teflon and the microwave oven…and advances in healthcare like penicillin, the X-ray and the vaccine for smallpox.
There’s an urban myth about beauty product Creme de la Mer being accidentally invented by scientists at NASA. And it’s definitely true that Viagra’s unique properties for curing erectile dysfunction were discovered by scientists originally trialling the drug as a cure for hypertension.
In the face of such strong evidence, it’s clear that serendipity is a crucial part of the research and creative processes of any inventor – as is an ability to have a mind that’s open to the potential of mistakes and accidents – and, more generally, a lifestyle that isn’t ruled by schedule and regimental planning, but one which allows a certain amount of going with the flow and a full engagement in the spontaneity of life.
For me at least, this has been an important lesson to learn as I’ve often scoffed at the modern-day industry of brainstorming and creative workshopping which has sprung up precisely to encourage this kind of “accidental” innovation and discovery.
Of course it’s often difficult to measure the results of an approach to solving problems which foregrounds the importance of lateral thinking and activities organised to promote distraction can sometimes seem daft, pointless and even laughable. But clearly they have a place in industry and society in general – and a big one.
So the next time I need to solve a problem, rather than thinking about it rationally and tackling it head-on, I might just go off-piste and distract myself by doing something completely different. Who knows? I might even come up with an innovation as good as Superglue.
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There are 5 comments on this post
These discoveries were “accidental” in as much as they were unintended consequences of other activitiy, but it takes the inventor viewing the phenomena with an open mind to realise the significance of the find. Louis Pasteur said ‘Where
observation is concerned, chance favours only the prepared mind’. Brainstorming and other creative techniques are brilliant, so is going off and doing something completely different but the big breakthroughs come when these techniques are combined with deep knowledge and understanding from the participants.
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rather like the Zen approach to painting and poetry. Master the techniques, but let the imagination and the spirit guide the words or brush.
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Just to show how much self control I have, Matthew, I am going to eschew all the obvious gags and stick (sorry) to my main point which is to wonder how many amazing things I have discovered without realising it.
Some of that junk I have thrown away may have made my fortune if only I had known what I was looking at.
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Here in Alaska, because there is so much true, rough wilderness where no one else is even present, an injury can be life threatening when otherwise it would not be. Thus we are advised to carry Superglue and/or duck tape with us when we go camping in the middle of nowhere (which is most of Alaska). It works. People have sealed up wounds with one or the other and, rather than bleed to death, have made it to safety. Right now I am trying to type with bandaged fingers – I was using Superglue yesterday on a project and was not mindful of the fact that the warning of not letting it touch your skin is very appropriate – I peeled the skin right off of my fingers and bled on everything in sight! I didn’t know I had that much blood! However, the project was saved so what are a few flayed fingers?
It is one of the greatest inventions of the world. Just FYI – White Out is the invention of Mrs. Nesbith, Mike’s (“The Monkeys”) mother. As a secretary she figured there had to be an easier way to correct mistakes on the typewriter. Thus – White Out and a secretary who became a millionaire. So often we humans are not very good. We hurt and destroy and do terrible things to one another. But your article makes us realize that sometimes, without even meaning to be, humans can be awesome!
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I believe thast penicillin was almost not discovered due to too high standards of hygiene.
Apparently, Fleming left the dishes out overnight to see if anything grew on them.
What he did not know was that his cleaner cleaned the dishes every night so nothing grew on the dishes overnight.
It was only when the cleaner was off for a night that the penicillin bacteria grew. Fleming had apparently reached the stage where he was about to give up the project.
So – serendipity indeed !!!
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