How Fleming Discovered Penicillin by Chance
IllustrationStory★★★★Sir Alexander Fleming made his discovery of penicillin while working in a dusty old laboratory. A mold spore, blown in through a window, landed on a culture plate he was about to examine.
Some years later, he was taken on a tour of an up-to-date research lab, a gleaming, air-conditioned, dust-free, super-sterile setting. “What a pity you did not have a place like this to work in,” his guide said. “What you could have discovered in such surroundings!”
“Not penicillin,” Fleming observed dryly.
E. E. Edgar, Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations, #4819.
The point
The story of Sir Alexander Fleming discovering penicillin when a mold spore blown through an open window landed on his culture plate; years later, touring a sterile modern lab, he observed 'What a pity' you didn't have this—to which he replied 'Not penicillin,' illustrating providence through imperfection.