failure

We tend to think about the history of science as a series of breakthroughs and successes, from Galileo to Einstein ...
But mistakes and failure were always part of it, from Galileo's explanation of the tides to Einstein's unified field theories.
In physics there were Blondlot's N-rays, planet Vulcan, Fermi's trans-uranium (he even got a Nobel for it [*]) and many more - but every science has its fair share.

A few years ago I read When Science Goes Wong, an entertaining little book about big blunders of science.
If there should ever be a new edition, the laboratory in Wuhan should have its own chapter. And if this story will be made into a movie, Brad Pitt should play Dr. Fauci...

[*] Much later another Nobel prize winner became famous for his predictions, which turned out to be mostly wrong. But he was not really a scientist.