Medicine is science applied to the human body – and medical experiments are so complex and varied that things frequently don’t turn out as hoped. And, just to add a touch of comedy, accidents in this field are often crotch-oriented. The most famous below-the-belt invention of modern times was Viagra. The drug was meant to help patients with angina, a painful heart condition in which the circulatory system constricts and does not get enough oxygenated blood to the heart. Although the medication failed to treat the disease, it had a side effect of increasing blood flow elsewhere.
Search
Science’s Accidental Successes
From Viagra and saccharine to penicillin and x-rays, science and serendipity often go hand in hand. Here are seven accidental discoveries that changed the world.
Monthly Issue
April 2026
In this monthly issue, we examine how our understanding of energy — and how we source and use it — is evolving.
1 video
11 articles