ABSTRACT
Although the discovery was accidental and a lucky one, let us imagine for an instance that after returning from the holiday, Fleming noticed something “funny” about this plate and just discarded it as a culture that had been made useless as it was contaminated. Perhaps the best known of Pasteur’s obiter is that “in matters of observation, fortune favours only the prepared mind” (Kingston, 2008). Fleming discovered the penicillin because his mind was prepared; in his earlier study, he discovered lysozyme when he had a heavy cold and mucus from his nose fell on the bacterial plate. After a few days, he noticed no growth around the mucus. He had hoped that this mucus would have antibacterial activity; from this experience, he discovered the penicillin.
