A discovery of Pasteur's is described thus in Statistical Issues in Drug Development
"An interesting example cited by Nelson (1959) concerns Pasteur’s investigation of chicken cholera. Some chickens were accidentally inoculated with a weak culture; when they recovered and, to all apparent intents and purposes, were as before, Pasteur used them again so as not to waste them. However, they then proved to be resistant to an inoculation that would have killed an ordinary chicken."
Ref
Nelson R (1959) The simple economics of basic scientific research. Journal of Political Economy
June:297–307
Stephen
________________________________________
From: Evidence based health (EBH) [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jim Walker [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 08 November 2010 02:07
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Great Anecdotes versus poor science
As i understand it, Fleming had been doing the research that prepared
him to recognize the effect of the penicillium mold for 20 years.
From the perspective of cognitive psychology, that is no accident.
Jim
James M. Walker, MD, FACP
Chief Medical Information Officer
Geisinger Health System
The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
- Alan Kay
