Behind every action lies the possibility—the probability—of unintended effects. Imagine you’ve come up with a brilliant idea. You devise a plan. You control for every conceivable variable (that you can think of). But as soon as everything is in place, all the components of your carefully imagined strategy unravel. Mistakes are made. New conclusions and altered theories follow in light of new evidence. Unintended repercussions ensue. Consider a similar situation. Perhaps an idea comes to fruition as planned, but it isn’t until much later that said discovery is revealed to have contained ruinous errors. Or maybe a conviction that is collectively believed to be common knowledge is found to be incorrect.

Did you ever consider the notion that these mistakes, however, might be a gateway to ingenuity that propelled further breakthroughs, rather than mere blunders? It might comfort you to know that many scientists and thinkers had a tough time viewing mistakes in that light. It is my hope that these reading recommendations will prompt you to reflect upon the error-filled trajectory along which human comprehension has gradually unfolded.

Thomas Edison tried many different filaments in his experiments when he was making the first light bulb. The story is that he tried over 1,000 different substances. In response to criticism about his failures, Edison allegedly said, "I have not failed 1,000 times. I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb."

An error? Or an impetus for creativity? A blunder…or a “beautiful oops?” Choose your reality.

Brilliant Blunders by Mario Livio
This book focuses on the blunders from five luminary scientists: Pauling, Darwin, Einstein, astrophysicist Fred Hoyle, and William Thomson (also known as Lord Kelvin). After speculating on the reasons behind their errors, Livio reinforces the important contributions each of these thinkers made to their fields and ultimately leaves us with the message that blunders—even big ones—have a place in scientific discovery.

Magnificent Mistakes in Mathematics by Alfred S. Posamentier
A tour of the fundamental tenets of math demonstrates how historical mistakes have had profound consequences, providing coverage of events like the 1946 discovery of Shank's infamous pi miscalculation, the concept-violating method used to prove that every triangle is isosceles, and the misuse that ensues when disregarding the Pythagorean theorem.

How They Choked: Failures, Flops, and Flaws of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg
Mistakes are an intrinsic part of human nature. Sometimes, epic failures even lead to major successes. The stories behind fourteen failures expose what is lurking beneath the surface of select historical events, from Montezuma II's fatal error of mistaking a conqueror for a god to Isaac Newton's miscalculation of turning from science to pursue alchemy.

Mistakes that Worked: 40 Familiar Inventions And How They Came To Be by Charlotte Foltz Jones
Most people have experienced that particularly harrowing variety of distress; that is, feeling as though they have yet to accomplish anything in life. If you can identify with this, the discoveries in this book will come as reassurance. None of the inventions in this book were created with deliberate effort to bring them into existence. Some of the inventors had no idea that they had stumbled on something useful until much later, after their creations became popular. Covering both patented inventions like Silly Putty and Popsicles, as well as generic ones like bricks and donut holes, readers discover that mistakes are often a necessary step in innovation.

Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg
This book is a celebration of the unlikely gateways to discovery that are often disguised as mistakes. Saltzberg allows us to view the inevitable spills, tears, cracks, and unintentional lines on the pages of this picture book as opportunities for the creation of something new, albeit unplanned, rather than as accidents.

Ish by Peter Reynolds
This tale follows our dejected protagonist, Ramon as he tries—and fails—to make his drawings "look right" after his older brother informs him that his pieces don't look like the objects they are intended to imitate. Just as he's about to give up for good and permanently put his paint and brushes away, his little sister shows up to save the day. She has converted her bedroom into a makeshift gallery for his secretly admired crumpled creations, and tells him what an inspirational artist he is. When he declares that his picture of a vase doesn't look "real," she responds that it looks "vase-ISH." Ramon then begins to produce paintings that look "tree-ish," "afternoon-ish," "sunset-ish," etc. As Ramon's "ish art" inspires him to look at all artwork and creative projects in a more enlightened way, so too will this story challenge and encourage readers to see the world in a new light.

Boy, Were We Wrong About The Solar System! by Kathleen Kudlinski
Accomplished thinkers like Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton are showcased in this book, but only as unnamed astronomers or scientists who provided great leaps of thought contrary to the prevailing wisdom of their times. Showing how widely held preconceptions about nature are slowly, stumblingly tested by scientific study, Kudlinski traces our view of the universe from flat earth to the recent reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet.

Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs! by Kathleen Kudlinski
The ancient Chinese thought they were magical dragons. Some scientists used to think that because they were so big, all they could do was float in water. Wow, were they ever wrong! Even today, once-common notions about dinosaurs are being revised as new discoveries are continuously made and new theories are brought to light.

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis
Timmy is a relief for people who are afraid of making mistakes. Timmy makes mistakes. He drives a Failuremobile. He is an enterprising boy who wants to run a detective agency to earn money to help his mother, but has competition from his rivals. He gets help from his partner in crime, a polar bear named Total in forming Total Failure. With a name like that, what could possibly go wrong?  

Perfect Square by Michael Hall
One square. Unlimited possibilities. Wherever perfection is at stake, however, there exists room for error, of course. One bright red square starts out perfectly happy. But then something happens! On Monday, the square gets cut up and punched with holes. Though no longer a perfect square, it transforms into something just as wonderful—a babbling fountain. On Tuesday, the square (now yellow) gets torn into pieces. Destroyed paper—or a garden? While we might be inclined to simply see the repeated destruction of our recurring little square, this book encourages us to see reimagined possibilities. Each day of the week something different happens to the square and out of brokenness comes beauty and ingenuity.