Columbia University Center for Science and Society

Serendipity and Epiphany in Scientific Discovery

September 9, 2022 10:00am – 4:00pm EST

REGISTER HERE

While research, discovery and knowledge arrive as the outcomes of social structures intended for these purposes, many researchers observe that a significant proportion of their discoveries, ideas and achievements are the direct or indirect result of a series of chance events and encounters that occur outside of any describable formal structure. As expressed by Paul Feyerabend in 1975, the maxim “Anything goes” is not a prescriptive exhortation but rather a simple factual observation — with ample evidentiary support — of the way science often proceeds.

This mini-conference explores the concepts of ‘serendipity’ and ‘epiphany’ within scientific research through an open discourse with a group of scholars from Columbia University and beyond. A group of sympathetic and interested researchers will gather to discuss and present stories, ideas, and explorations that may lead to a wider conversation around these topics. Importantly, a goal for this mini-conference is not to instrumentalize the concepts of serendipity and epiphany, but rather to simply think about them and the conditions that allow them to flourish.

Free and open to Columbia University ID holders. Registration is required. Interested guests from other universities and research institutions, should email Jeff Benjamin at jlb2289@columbia.edu to request attendance. All guests must comply with Columbia University COVID-19 guidelines.