The Science of Serendipity

On a sunny Sunday in 1929, American children’s-book author Anne Parrish was browsing the used-book stalls along the Seine in Paris when she came upon a familiar title: Helen Wood’s “Jack Frost and Other Stories.” She bought the book for one franc and hurried to rejoin her husband, who was sipping his wine at a nearby restaurant. It was one of her favorites growing up, she told him, handing him the book to browse. After a few minutes he passed it back to her, open to the flyleaf, where a childish hand had written: “Anne Parrish, 209 North Weber Street, Colorado Springs, Colorado.” It was her very own childhood...