Many people know that Columbus wouldn't have dared to sail across the Atlantic if he had been aware how far the way to Asia really is. But there exist a lot more errors which turned out to be useful. Great thinkers like Copernicus and Einstein, but also ordinary people made mistakes which changed our world in many ways. A collection of the most interesting and useful errors in history, science, kitchen and art. Contents: Errors – always negative? To err as a program? Trial and error or: What geniuses and rainworms have in common Mistakes? How delicious! – Potato crisps and cauliflower The great fried potatoes failure Tofu, cheese, wine & Co. Cauliflower and beyond In wine there is error Copernicus or: a rounder rounding … and Kepler Discovering America with Aristotle El Dorado: the mirage of greed Dreams, lies and literature: Schliemann Creative misunderstandings in literature Kandinsky or: The right wrong view Only relatively right assumptions: theory of relativity Unsuccessful, but still a masterpiece: the Michelson–Morley experiment A bit of theory on error Sloppiness saves the lives of millions Can false prophecies be useful?