Accidental cover art

Accidental

The Greatest (Unintentional) Science Breakthroughs and How They Changed The World

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Accidental

By: Tim James
Narrated by: Tim James
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

 Nominated for the best popular science book of 2024 by Smart Book.

'Who said science was dry? Certainly not Tim James' New York Post
'James writes with infectious enthusiasm and optimism' Kirkus Reviews
'A science teacher by profession, Mr. James knows how to get his audience's attention' Wall Street Journal
'Humorous, yet deep' Professor Charles Antoine

A rip-roaring adventure through science gone wrong, and accidentally changing humanity (mostly) for the better.

We may imagine that science is a process of breakthroughs and light bulb moments. But in reality, science goes wrong 99% of the time.

Almost every idea a scientist comes up with is quickly disproved by a failed experiment or rival research. Science moves at a rate of inches per decade and we often like it that way. But occasionally, just occasionally, a complete fluke happens and changes everything as we know it.

From an untimely sneeze in a petri dish leading to the groundbreaking creation of antibiotics, to the incredible discovery of microwaves via melted chocolate, Accidental is a rip-roaring adventure through science gone wrong, and accidentally changing humanity for the better.©2024 Tim James History History & Philosophy Physics Science

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Elemental cover art
In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality cover art
Quantum Physics, Into the Light 2-in-1 Value cover art
A Brief History of the End of the F*cking World cover art
Why Nobody Understands Quantum Physics cover art
The World According to Physics cover art
Our Mathematical Universe cover art
Something Deeply Hidden cover art
The One Thing You Need to Know cover art
A Crack in Everything cover art
The Many Hidden Worlds of Quantum Mechanics cover art
The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry: Series 1-10 cover art
All stars
Most relevant
this is the 4th book of the author I have read and I was expecting him to run dry or produce something really dilluted, but yet again another brilliant book that can't be put down. great pieces of information often humorous. highly recomend this or

4th tim james book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
this book is poor effort from someone who makes an income from writing popular science. I’m a fan of popular science and i judge this to be a lazy and sloppy attempt at making money 2/10 Tim

dissapointed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.