How Modest Research Led to Major Breakthroughs

Research has the potential to add value when it is sound and meaningful. In today’s blog post, we will examine the trajectory of research across various disciplines and explore how it ultimately led to groundbreaking discoveries and inventions. 

Research on Neural Networks  

We all know how large language models (LLMs) are trained using gigantic databases. However, in 1957, when psychologist Frank Rosenblatt introduced the “perceptron,” an early model of a neural network that could learn simple patterns, his peers dismissed the work after highlighting some clear limitations. Owing to this early setback, research in the area of neural networks remained more or less buried for decades. However, following the emergence of powerful computing techniques, neural networks evolved into deep learning systems that were capable of recognizing images, understanding complex language structures, or even driving autonomous vehicles. What drew criticism in the 1950s eventually became the backbone of the trillion-dollar AI industry. 

Aviation Research 

When an airplane flies after a lift, it experiences drag from wingtip vortices. The aerodynamics research conducted in the 1890s by British engineer Frederick W. Lanchester, who conceptualized wing end‑plates to reduce the impact of wingtip vortices, paved the way for modern commercial winglet technology pioneered by NASA in the 1970s. NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and Boeing established a collaboration in 1977 for the winglet flight test program at the Dryden Flight Research Center in California. The tests, conducted as part of this collaborative research program, successfully validated Whitcomb’s predictions. Long story short, the optimized winglet design improved the lift-to-drag ratio by 7% while reducing induced drag by 20%. Fast forward to 2025, winglet technology saves airlines billions of dollars in fuel costs.  

Research in Behavioral Economics  

Early research in behavioral economics by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky seemed modest and futile, as it only challenged a small segment of economic theory: that most people make rational decisions that are driven by pure logic. Subsequent research, however, confirmed that decision-making at scale was not just driven by logic; human emotion had a surprising impact on the entire process. This stark realization led to the advancement of behavioral economics, thus transforming it into a mainstream research area. Today, we see tremendous implications of behavioral economics across sectors. For instance, digital platforms routinely employ the scarcity model (“only 10 left in stock”) to influence consumers, who then finalize purchases owing to the fear of missing out. In other words, what began as a modest challenge to the rational choice theory has now snowballed into a toolkit at scale, shaping billion-dollar industries worldwide.  

Food Science Research  

In the 1860s, French scientist Louis Pasteur, along with a few other researchers, showed that microorganisms drive fermentation and spoilage. Subsequent experiments confirmed that microbes in milk could actually be killed by the application of external heat; a process now referred to as “pasteurization.” Unfortunately, during those days, Louis Pasteur’s germ theory faced massive opposition, and his laboratory method for preventing milk spoilage was dismissed by many as an “isolated technical fix.” Today, pasteurization has received global acceptance as a standard protocol in the multi-billion-dollar dairy industry. It is now a scientific fact that pasteurization of milk kills deadly microbes, such as those causing tuberculosis and typhoid, while not adversely impacting the flavor of the pasteurized milk.    

Tiny Switch, Giant Leap 

In 1947, three Bell Labs researchers (John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley) demonstrated a groundbreaking device called the “transistor.” They had specifically designed it for replacing the bulky vacuum tubes that were prevalent during those times. Although it seemed like a modest laboratory fix for switching electrical signals on and off, the transistor soon transformed the entire electronics industry. Unlike vacuum tubes, transistors were cheap and reliable. They could also be easily miniaturized. Engineers eventually started packing billions of transistors onto silicon chips, paving the way for the digital revolution. Today, every modern electronic device, ranging from smartphones and laptops to satellites, runs on transistors. This early innovation from Bell Labs now shapes how we communicate, compute, and live in the digital era. 

The Electric Motor 

This blog would be incomplete without the mention of the electric motor, which began as a small laboratory demonstration in the early nineteenth century. The motor was the brainchild of Michael Faraday (1791–1867), the famous English chemist and physicist, best known for his pioneering work in electromagnetism and electrochemistry. Back then, Michael Faraday showed that electricity could produce continuous rotation. What started as a scientific curiosity soon metamorphosed into a widely used technology that powers automobiles, railway engines, elevators, escalators, factories, household appliances, industrial robots, electric fans, pumps, compressors, power tools, drones, and even spacecraft systems today.   

Many More Examples 

Several laboratory discoveries and inventions, including lithium-ion batteries, fiber-optic communications, microprocessors, 3D printing, CRISPR gene editing, nanomaterials, renewable energy technologies, wireless charging, and robotics, which were initially deemed minor, have since evolved into pillars of modern life.   

Summary 

In today’s blog, we explored multiple discoveries and inventions that began as tiny sparks but later revolutionized entire industries. Research, whether incremental or fundamental, has the power to create lasting value when it is sound and meaningful.  

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