Alexander Fleming

Teaching is as vital as discovering.

Resistance to drugs is nature's revenge.

A good scientist questions everything.

My life was shaped by the microscope.

Innovation comes from curiosity, not compulsion.

Penicillin proved that miracles can be scientific.

In war, medicine becomes a weapon of peace.

The lab taught me more about life than any book.

Bacteria evolve faster than our understanding.

Happiness is a clean culture plate.

Discovery requires both luck and labor.

The future of medicine lies in microbiology.

I am a servant of science, not its master.

Every experiment is a step toward truth.

Penicillin's legacy is shared with humanity.

Observe nature, and she will reveal her secrets.

Science without ethics is dangerous.

My last words? Keep discovering.

It has been said that I was lucky. Well, maybe I was. Maybe I was lucky to have a dirty laboratory. Maybe I was lucky to have a window open. Maybe I was lucky to have a spore of Penicillium notatum float in.

The story of penicillin has a certain dramatic interest, in that it was discovered by accident, and its development was due to the collaboration of a number of workers in different countries.