‘Reactions’ Shares a Series of Accidental Chemical Discoveries That Changed the World

Host Darcy Gentleman, Ph.D. shares a series of accidental chemical discoveries that changed the world in a recent episode of the American Chemical Society series Reactions. Some of the discoveries include a cheap purple dye, an artificial sweetener, and non-stick coatings.

The American Chemical Society partnered with the Chemical Heritage Foundation for this episode.

Throughout the history of science, many major discoveries came accidentally. Sometimes they came from recognizing potential in an unexpected product or waste. Other times, discovery came out of pure desperation from a seemingly dead-end experiment. Here are some of those happy accidents that ended up changing the world.