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Fleming may 
have been lucky 
to stumble across 
penicillin but it 
takes a good 
scientist to take
proper note of
the unexpected.
His accidental
discovery  gave 
medicine one of
its most powerful
weapons in the
battle against
illness
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As a young man, 
Fleming showed 
little interest in
science or medicine. 
His elder brother 
encouraged him
to abandon his 
job in a shipping 
office, and he
enrolled at St. 
Mary's Hospital 
Medical College in 
London. Within 
months, Fleming 
had become their 
most brilliant 
student
#
As with many 
good inventions, it
was war which
spurred the 
development
of penicillin. By 
1943 techniques 
for the mass 
production of 
the drug had 
been perfected 
and it was soon
introduced to
the battlefield. 
Penicillin saved 
soldiers who, in 
previous wars, 
would certainly 
have died from 
their wounds
#
By the end of 
the second world 
war, antibiotics 
were becoming 
more easily
available. Peni-
cillin was far
more effective
in combatting
infection than
previous remedies.
Fleming had
some imaginative
ideas for how
it might be
administered
#
Fleming never
ceased to 
wonder at the
therapeutic
consequences
of his off-hand
discovery. Yet
the chance
which carried
the spores of
mould into his
petri dish was
no greater than
the chance which
carried Fleming
into the medical
profession in
the first place
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Some argue that
the real heroes
of the penicillin
story were Florey
and Chain. But
scientific dis-
covery is often
untidy, blurred
at the edges. 
Researchers 
build on the 
discoveries of 
those who've 
gone before, and
most innovators
are no more than
separate steps
along the way.
As for who
gets the credit,
it is often a 
matter of chance
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