I may have caught a few of you off balance by using the word ' Serendipity'. what I meant was that I'm having the time of my life, by chance.( A story I will share later)
The word has quite a history....................
Serendipity (noun) ; a natural gift for making useful discoveries quite by accident.
The word has its roots in "The Three Princes of Serendip", a Persian story about three princes who had the knack of discovering things quite by chance.
"The Three Princes of Serendip" was published in Europe in 1557 by a Venetian, Michele Tramezzino, and eventually was translated into other languages. The British statesman Horace Walpole read the story as a child, and later coined the word serendipity in a letter dated January 28, 1754, sent to Horace Mann (envoy to Florence). Walpole wrote about learning some news quite by chance, and stated that "this discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word."
He explained that this name was part of the title of a "silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip; as their highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of..."
In 2000, serendipity was voted Britain’s favourite word.
The question that would naturally follow is, 'Where is the Island of Serendip?'
Serendip is an ancient Persian name for the Island of Sri Lanka, and the Persians were enamoured by the wonderful easy going life on the Island, which one of their navigators discovered.
A good example of serendipity would be:
Electromagnetism, by Hans Christian Oersted.
While he was setting up his materials for a lecture, he noticed a compass needle deflecting from magnetic north when the electric current from the battery he was using was switched on and off.
A discovery by chance that had a major impact on physics!
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