alt Hacker NewsWhich raises the question of whether there are any results so surprising that it's unlikely that any other scientists would have stumbled onto them in a reasonable time frame.
Which raises the question of whether there are any results so surprising that it's unlikely that any other scientists would have stumbled onto them in a reasonable time frame.
I've heard Einstein's General Relativity described that way.
Special Relativity was not such a big breakthrough. Something like it was on the verge of being described by somebody in that timeframe — all the pieces were in place, and science was headed in that direction.
But General Relativity really took everyone by surprise.
At least, that's my understanding from half-remembered interviews from some decades ago (: