The Nature of Science section for this sub-topic uses Reinitzer’s discovery of liquid crystals as an example of serendipity. In 1888 Reinitzer synthesised a new compound - cholesteryl benzoate.cholesteryl benzoate (Image from Wikimedia commons)In order to show that it was pure he needed to determine the melting point and was surprised to find that it appeared to have two different melting points. At 145.5 oC the white...