Unexpected Discoveries

Let's review just a few of the important discoveries of the past couple of centuries that were made entirely by chance.

I n 1791 Luigi Galvani was an anatomist at the University of Bologna. Galvani was investigating the nerves in frog legs, and had threaded* some legs on copper wire hanging from a balcony in such a way that a puff of wind caused the legs to touch the iron railing. A spark snapped and the legs jerked violently (even today, we speak of being "galvanized" into action). In one unintentional step, Galvani had observed a closed electrical circuit*, and related electricity to nerve impulses. So he is typically credited with the discovery of bioelectricity.

In 1879, Louis Pasteur inoculated some chickens with cholera bacteria. It was supposed to kill them, but Pasteur or one of his assistants had accidentally used a culture from an old jar and the chickens merely got sick and recovered. Later, Pasteur inoculated them again with a fresh culture that he knew to be virulent, and the chickens didn't even get sick. Chance had led him to discover the principle of vaccination for disease prevention.

W ilhelm Roentgen was experimenting with electrical discharges one evening at the University of Wurzburg in 1895. There was a screen coated with a barium compound lying to one side, and Roentgen noticed that it would fluoresce when an electrical discharge would occur in the tube he was watching. On reaching for the screen, Roentgen got his hand between the discharge tube and the screen and saw the bones of his own hand through the shadow of his skin. In 1901, Roentgen received the Nobel Prize for his accidental discovery of X-rays.

A lexander Fleming was a young bacteriologist at St. Mary's Hospital in London in 1928. One day in his cluttered laboratory, he noticed that a culture dish of bacteria had been invaded by a mould* whose spore must have drifted in through an open window. Under the microscope, he saw that, all around the mould, the individual bacteria that he had been growing had burst. He saved the mould, and from it produced the first penicillin.

Although the mad scientists or eccentric inventors so often portrayed in old movies are still good for laughs, that's not what we're talking about here. Surely the need still exists for the imaginative and inventive experimenter.

(Adapted from “Unexpected scientific discoveries are often the most important” by Larry (Gedney. Alaska Science Forum, 1985)

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to thread - здесь нанизывать

circuit – здесь замкнутая электрическая цепь

mould - здесь плесень

Comprehension check

1. Here are some answers. What are the questions?

Example: Q___When and where was Luigi Galvani doing his investigations?

A In 1791 at the University of Bologna.

a) Q __________________________________________________________?

A puff of wind.

b) Q _________________________________________________________?

To nerve impulses.

c) Q __________________________________________________________?

Louis Pasteur.

d) Q __________________________________________________________?

Principle of vaccination.

e) Q ___________________________________________________________?

With electrical discharges.

f) Q ___________________________________________________________?

Barium compound.

g) Q ___________________________________________________________?

The bones of his own hand.

h) Q __________________________________________________________?

The Nobel Prize.

i) Q ___________________________________________________________?

Bacteriologist.

j) Q ___________________________________________________________?

The first penicillin.

2. Sum up in your own words how these discoveries were made.

bioelectricity	c) X-rays
vaccination	d) penicillin

Discuss

• Do you think these discoveries were absolutely unexpected? Why?/Why not?

• Why are scientists often portrayed as mad or eccentric experimenters?

• How many joint discoveries or inventions can you name?

• Who made them? Did they find any application?

• Which would you prefer: working in collaboration with other scientists and making a joint discovery or competing with others and working on your own? Why? Give reasons.

• Comment on the saying “The fortune likes those that are prepared”.

Focus on language

1. Read the sentences. What grammar tenses are used?

• We were tired because we had been experimenting all day long.

• After I had worked in the lab for a few weeks, I felt I knew the equipment

very well.

• They were making observations of the night sky for several years hoping to discover the planet they had calculated.

• First students had a short talk with a lab instructor about safety in the lab and then they were allowed to work with some chemicals.

• The lecture finished before we got there.

• The lecture had already finished before we got there.

Past Simple, Past Progressive, Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive We use … talk about an activity or situation that began and ended at a particular time in the past. We use … to say that something was going on around a particular time in the past or a longer background action or situation which was interrupted by a shorter action. We use … to speak about an action which happened before another past action. We use … to talk about an action or event continuing up to a specific time in the past. We put the emphasis on ‘how long’.

2. List time expressions under the correct tense heading. Some expressions can be used more than once.

for	before	already	first,
since	after	ago	until
when	while	as soon as	during

Past Past Past Past

Simple Progressive Perfect Perfect Progressive

……….. ………… …………

……….. ………… ………. …………

……….. ………… ………. …………

3. Complete the sentences with the correct Past tenses.

1. Class (begin, already) ___________ by the time I (get) ___________ there, so I (take, quietly) __________ a seat in the back.

2. My group mate (discuss) ___________ something with professor when I (walk) ____________ into the room.

3. It was midnight. I (study) ____________ for five straight hours. No wonder I

(get tired).

4. Millions of years ago, dinosaurs (roam) _____________ the earth, but they (become) ____________ extinct by the time humankind first (appear) ____________.

5. I (call) Kate at nine last night, but she (be, not) ____________ at home. She (study) _____________ at the library.

6. Kevin suddenly realized that the teacher (ask) him a question. He couldn’t answer because he (daydream) _____________ for the last ten minutes.

7. I (see, never) __________ any of Picasso’s paintings before I (visit) ___________ the art museum.

8. The anthropologists (leave) ___________ the village when they (collect) ____________ enough data.

9. While Roger (write) ___________ an essay his roommate (clean) ___________ the room, so Roger (cannot) ____________ concentrate and (get) ____________ angry.

10. As I (pass) _____________ the hardest exam and (get) _____________ an excellent mark I (feel) ____________ a know-it-all.

Get real

S earch the Internet or look in popular science magazines and books for the information about an accidental or joint discovery / invention made before the 20^th century. Report your findings to the class. Follow the outline below:

• discovery/ invention

• discoverer(s)/inventor(s)

• circumstances

Listening

1. Before you listen answer the questions.

• How many discoveries or inventions of the ancient world do you know?

• How did they influence the development of science at that time?

• Do people still use them?

• Have any modern inventions or discoveries replaced them?

2. Label the parts of the abacus in the picture and complete the definition.

a) --------------- a frame rods beads

c) ----------------

b)---------------

The abacus is a device, usually of wood (plastic, in recent times), having .……… that holds ………. with freely sliding ……… mounted on them.

3. The words in A are in the story you are going to hear. Match a word in A with a definition in B.

to quantify	to name or list (the units of a group or collection) one by one in order to determine a total; number.
addition	a printed or written sign used to represent an operation, element, quantity, quality, or relation, as in mathematics or music.
positional notation	an arithmetic operation in which the difference between two numbers is calculated
to count	an arithmetic operation of summing; calculating the sum of two or more numbers.
symbol	to perform a mathematical process using mathematical or logical methods.
subtraction	to determine an amount or number by mathematics, especially by numerical methods and the use of computer
to calculate	to determine or express the quantity of sth.
to compute	a numeration system in which a real number is represented by an ordered set of characters where the value of a character depends on its position.

4. Listen to the Abacus story and answer the questions.

1. According to the speaker what led to the development of a modern computer?

2. What did the early people use to make their calculations?

3. What important concept in counting and calculation was developed?

4. When was the Chinese abacus invented? What was it like?

5. Is abacus still in use these days?

6. Is it capable of computing?

7. What is the process of calculation called nowadays?

Speaking

1. Look at the pictures of the inventions and label them.

А

В

C

D