Two of Japanese scientist, Prof. Eiichi Negishi and Prof. Akira Suzuki was awarded with Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
As a Japanese, I am very happy with their winning the prize.
I am very much impressed when Prof. Suzuki was talking about "serendipity".
As a matter of fact, I'm very fond of the word and its concept.
The word "serendipity" owes its origin to the Persian tale about "Three Princes of Serendip".
Serendip is an old name for Ceylon or Sri Lanka.
According to that tale, the three princes of Sri Lanka was always looking for something
but they could not find what they were looking for.
Instead, they happened to find something else so wonderful.
From this old tale, a word "serendipity" was coined to express the faculty or situation
of gaining or meeting unexpectedness that is so wonderful.
Yes, I love "unexpectedness". And the theme of the SL7B in June this year
was "Unexpected Collaboration".
Unexpectedness is something that will lead you to somewhere beyond your ability or imagination.
But this unexpectedness does not come easily.
When you return to the old Persian tale, you'll find these princes were always looking for something.
Yes, they kept on searching something and it led to finding something else so wonderful.
Something unexpected and wonderful is attained by the continuous effort of searching,
which is now proved by the lives of these scientists.
Oct 8, 2010
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