ABSTRACT
Major scientific discoveries have been made quite by accident: however a closer look reveals that the scientist was intrigued by a specific pattern in the observations. Then some diligent persuasion led to an important discovery. A classic example is that of the English doctor from Gloucestershire, England, by the name of Edward Jenner. His primary observation was that milkmaids were immune to smallpox even though other family members would be infected with the disease. The milkmaids were routinely exposed to cowpox and subsequently Jenner’s successful experiment of inducing immunity to smallpox in a little boy by first infecting him with cowpox led to the world’s first smallpox vaccination. A sharp observation in 1796 ultimately led to the eradication of smallpox on this planet in the late 1970s.
