Tolson, Jay (2004) A words eventual journey, US News& World Report,
2/2:51

As Tolson‘s review of Robert Merton latest and last book THE TRAVELS
AND ADVENTURES OF SERENDIPITY, we discovered how word usage vary by time and eras of scholarly and popular usage. This is the last Merton book before he passed on last year.

Serendipity is one case of a term that has history and cultural
variation throughout the ages. It means a chance discovery and originates with Horace Walpole who used the term in 1754. For many years, the word fell into disuse because of the intellectual temperament of utilitarianism and evangelicalism. Walpole was thought to be a dabbler of trivia.

By the 20’s, sciences and social sciences were repeatedly discovering
by chance new and insightful research which was then replicated and
validated by scientific protocol. Merton also played a hand in reintroducing this term in American sociology.

With the advent of chaos theory, the authors believe that serendipity
should remain in the mainstream for a long time. Serendipity is one of the most profound pillars of chaos theory and compliments the ongoing
discoveries such as the recent insight of the use of Mir’s reducing bi-polar depression. Those anti-depressants were inadvertently discovered in treating tuberculosis patients. Serendipity may become synonymous with the first bifurcation discovered in a new study.

At any rate, Merton may have for our country the first and last word on
this subject that he “discovered” in his own life time.