Penicillin Serendipity Essay Example

Penicillin There were many fascinating serendipitous scientific discoveries in the 20th century. One of them was the discovery of penicillin by Sir Alexander Fleming. The discovery and development of penicillin totally changed the direction of approaches to treating infectious diseases and saved millions of lives ever since (1). It was the first antibiotic to successfully treat bacterial infections. Therefore, Alexander Fleming, Ernst B. Chain, and Sir Howard Florey together were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945 for the discovery and isolation of penicillin, an antibiotic medicine with great therapeutic potential (2). However, when talking about the discoverers of penicillin, the first person that comes to mind for most is Sir Alexander Fleming. Sir Alexander Fleming still remains a prominent individual in the records of medical history due to his remarkable contributions to science and medicine (1). The discovery, testing, and refinement of penicillin are a complex tale of accident, oversight, conflict, the pressure of war, and individual personalities (3). Alexander Fleming, Ernst B. Chain, and Howard Florey had extremely similar personality and background. These three prominent individuals were all well educated, which made them competitive in their fields; they had a passion for what they were doing. They were knowledgeable in their field, too. Sir Howard Florey was considered by many to be the most intelligent among the three. After graduating from college, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford (4). Most critics agree that among these three scientists, Fleming was the most typical. He was very observant and paid close attention to intuition. He was also curious, as shown when he realized the abnormal phenomenon of the mold. Upon discovering penicillin, Fleming became dedicated and focused. He was confident about his unexpected discovery.
Sir Alexander Fleming was born in Ayrshire, Scotland on