Discovery - Part 4

Apples and Apple Tree in the Garden with Bird Houses

In previous postings I discussed discussed discovery, discussing Lewis and Clark’s arduous journey to the Pacific Coast, and seafaring explorers who encountered great hardships and made great discoveries. I discussed how discovery is often shared, representing the entirety of the experience, not just the beginning, end or one individual. I discussed how the small things in life can be discoveries too, so that scale is not necessary to define a discovery. Moreover, I’ll reiterate that many small discoveries together can make as big an impact just as one big one.

Discoveries encompass the mental as well as the physical sphere.

Three Spokane, Washington city convention workers walking down the street discover a knapsack placed on a bench. There is a parade honoring Martin Luther King, Jr shortly. Their situational awareness leads them to recognize that wires sticking out of a backpack has the signature of a potential bomb. They report this discovery to authorities and a potential terrorist act is stopped. This MSNBC video describes the incident. This discovery brings a number of facets of understanding together to recognize one risk.

Discovery dots the stream of time with significant milestones in fields of science as we learn more about everything from the cellular level to the far reaches of outer space, with disciplines ranging from molecular biology to astrophysics.

Sir Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity is case of consolidating information from disparate sources. From Stukeley’s Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton's Life (Wikipedia article) comes the following excerpt:

“....the notion of gravitation came into his mind. It was occasioned by the fall of an apple, as he sat in contemplative mood. Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground, thought he to himself.”

This is the creative process at work, associating a tree, an apple, and the apple’s actions (falling to the ground) in an inquisitive, thought-directed process that results in a discovery. It is the essence of consolidating disparate information and coming up with that “ah-ha moment”.

Thus discovery can involve using the mind to uncover a risk or to intuit a reward, a breakthrough in knowledge that opens new frontiers or rescues others.