Reminds me of the old story of the onion in the varnish. As recounted by pg:
>>In The Periodic Table, Primo Levi tells a story that happened when he was working in a varnish factory. He was a chemist, and he was fascinated by the fact that the varnish recipe included a raw onion. What could it be for? No one knew; it was just part of the recipe. So he investigated, and eventually discovered that they had started throwing the onion in years ago to test the temperature of the varnish: if it was hot enough, the onion would fry.<<
Another anecdote: A colleague of mine visited an aluminum casting plant, and saw bags of potatoes sitting around. She asked what the potatoes were for. The answer: They used to throw some sort of large pill into the aluminum, to get rid of the bubbles, so the casting would be more solid. Then they heard that a potato worked just as well.
>>In The Periodic Table, Primo Levi tells a story that happened when he was working in a varnish factory. He was a chemist, and he was fascinated by the fact that the varnish recipe included a raw onion. What could it be for? No one knew; it was just part of the recipe. So he investigated, and eventually discovered that they had started throwing the onion in years ago to test the temperature of the varnish: if it was hot enough, the onion would fry.<<