The Fête de la Science takes place from 7 to 17 October 2022 throughout France, with hundreds of events for young and old. We explain to you why the greatest scientist in history is the case!
What is called the fluke, term coined in the 19th century to designate unexpected discoveries made by chance. And in the history of science there have been tons of them. From Teflon to Viagra, X-rays, dynamite or Play-Doh modeling clay. Often it starts with something trivial. Like a walk with your dog …
This leads to a scientific invention that we all use. In 1941, George de Mestral, Swiss engineer, he goes hunting with his dog. Coming out of the grove where they were looking for game, he notices that they have balls hanging from him, in his clothes, and the dog in his hair … And what is it? Burdock fruits, a plant used against acne and hair loss.
Chance would have wanted it
Observing these fruits under a microscope, George de Mestral discovered that they had flexible hooks that got entangled in fabrics, hairs and resumed their shape when they were plucked off. Chance just gave him the idea of the velcro. “Vel” for the velvet, like the pants he wore, and “cro” for the hooks. Chance did things right! Sometimes it hurts them.
As in 68 when Spencer Silver, American chemist, develops an extra strong glue. Except that he intrudes on his dosages and gets exactly the opposite! Something sticky with very little adhesive. He sets it aside. And then one day, a fellow director of a religious choir comes to visit him. “I’m fed up! The bookmarks in my songbooks keep falling off. Could you pass me your glue that doesn’t stick too much?”
It covers pieces of paper. She sticks but breaks away. He just invented the post-it! These handy sticky notes were originally yellow. When they tested the glue, they needed pieces of paper. The only ones they found in a nearby lab were canary yellow. Still luck!
>> Oh yeah? From Monday to Friday, Florian Gazan answers in a minute to all the essential, existential, sometimes completely absurd questions that cross your mind. Knowledge that is very useful or totally useless to shine in society, absolutely incredible anecdotes to share, incredible stories to tell. And every time you will say “Oh yeah?”. An RTL Originals podcast.
