Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Sir Alexander Fleming

  • Serendipity in science and medicine

    JMS PearceHull, England, United Kingdom The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not “Eureka!”, but “That’s funny…” – Isaac Asimov Horace Walpole (son of the first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole) coined the word “serendipity” in 1754. It was based on a Persian fairytale in which…

  • Sir Alexander Fleming: A microbiologist at work and play

    Jayant RadhakrishnanDarien, Illinois, United States Sir Alexander Fleming had many talents. His discoveries of lysozyme in 1923 and in 1928 the antibiotic effect of the fungus Penicillium notatum are well known.1 Less well known is that he was a skilled marksman and a member of the London Scottish Regiment during World War I. There is…

  • Penicillin’s unique discovery

    Emmanuel UgokweNigeria Southeast & South South Scottish-born Alexander Fleming spent almost his entire life as a doctor in London, studying the problems of infection and the use of antiseptics. In 1922 he made a remarkable observation. He took a test tube containing water mixed with inoffensive bacteria that turned the water milky. To this he…