How I'm a lot like Alexander Fleming, only Noble Prize-less

My grandfather knew Alexander Fleming, and so I grew up hearing the story of his great discovery. He was a research scientist. He spent years studying anti-bacterial agents. But he was an untidy man. One day he left his lab window open and some petrie dishes on a table. Some mold blew in, contaminated one of the samples, and upon investigating, Fleming realized it was destroying bacteria. And so he discovered penicillin, one of the greatest medical discoveries of all time.

I used to wonder why we gave Alexander Fleming credit for the discovery. After all, it was an accident. Why was he so lauded for being messy? He wasn't even working on an antibiotic when it happened. So what's the big deal?

Now I realize he was a creative--like writers, like painters, like musicians. Like scientists. We do the work. Every day, we do the work. We go into the lab and put in the hours, just in case. And often it's not our training or talent or intellect or cleverness that makes something work--it's happenstance. It's serendipity. Sometimes I write a sentence that seems meaningless and I'll delete it later. But then I notice it on another pass, consider it, and realize that little bit is a tiny spotlight on a layer of depth and meaning I hadn't even realized was there. I can't take credit for it. But I can take credit for being at work, writing my butt off, when it happened. I can take credit for noticing it, like in the petrie dish. And for working with it, expanding on it, applying it to the story.

Fleming didn't stop with some mold in a dish. He studied that, applied that, and made a vaccine that could rid the human body of infection. I hope when some mold comes floating in the window, it finds me hard at work. And maybe I can work with that mold till it becomes a story worth reading.

Comments

[Kelly C.]

I want some mold too! :)

[Helene]

This is a beautiful metaphor. I never thought that mould could get me so eager to write!

[Christen]

Haha, only you could make mold less gross.

[Clare]

Amen! Onward, chaps! And, in other news...its only like, 179 days till NaNoWriMo starts :)

[BabyMama]

Alexander Hamilton was probably pissy as all get out that his petrie dishes were contaminated before he realized what happened. I love that some of the most exciting and useful discoveries tend to be the result of mistakes and plans gone wrong. So when people stumble upon something unpredictable and exciting, they probably aren't thinking, "This is quite a discovery!" but rather, "Argghhhh! What went WRONG?" And then out of all that wrongness comes something brilliant!

[Ali]

great metaphor, and inspiring to keep in mind, when you're working your hardest something just might happen!

[Dassie]

Just FYI - there's no e in petri.

[MelissaPete]

He was doing the work and God probably gave him the nudge he needed, right? It was an such a necessary discovery to perpetuate our survival when disease hits. I can SO see God giving that little nudge in the right direction. ;)

[Madge]

It was dark when I woke. This is a ray of snsuhine.

[Amber Argyle]

Reminds me of my fridge the other day. I opened it up and found mold growing on my mushrooms.

Seems kinda repetative. Mold growing on fungus.

But I digress.

[Melissa]

What an inspiring story. Maybe this concept is what I need to inspire me to actually write my thesis! Thank you!

[Alexandra Wood]

So inspiring. I am trying to write, but... it is so much harder than it seems. Oh well... I'll keep trying.

[Linda W]

So true! And I'm glad you can be found hard at work, because we can enjoy the results.

This inspires me to keep trying. And like Melissa I have a thesis to write as well!

[keylogger for Mac]

a lot like Alexander Fleming?
study,study,study......

[Nancy]

He also worked at what to do with the mold to make it useful for us. That's what going to work every day and putting in the time does for you, and for everyone else. It lets you take those moments and make the world a better place because of them.

[jenelcc]

I love this post. Mold has never been so inspirational. It's downright brilliant.

[Kelsey]

I've often thought that way with art before: some of my best drawings haven't been something I could mark off as skill, especially delving back several years, when I was much worse. When I can look at a drawing now and still love it like that--it's more like it was a happy accident than anything. (Rather humbling, I suppose. I want to be brilliant of my own accord. *sigh*)
But, yeah, you find that mold, Shannon! And I will cherish it.

[Bart Kowallis]

Speaking of scientists, Shannon...I'm still waiting for you to come and talk to some scientists.

[Angela]

Hooray for theses! You can do it!, Melissa and Linda!

[Gwen]

This was quite an insightful post. Thanks for sharing! :D
♥Gwen

[Dassie]

Also - it's Nobel, not Noble.

But that's just quibbling.

Keep up the great work! I can't wait to read Midnight in Austenland!

[gracie]

That was great, Shannon! This shows you are truly an author.

[Miss Erin]

I love this. So much. Thank you.

[Rachel]

Ooh, have you read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell? He brings up that study about how putting in 10,000 hours puts someone on the path to be a virtuoso, change the world, innovate, etc. Bill Gates had spent at least 10K hours programming computers before he had the innovation that led to Microsoft. World-class violinists have ALL spent at least 10K hours practicing, never any less. What's amazing about this to me is how it underscores the necessity for hard work. Endless, maybe boring hard work. But the "ah-ha" moments (or even the accidents) happen when all that time is logged. Maybe the Tiger Mom is on to something . . . !