I can't find a documentary on YouTube that talked about how minor things can have massive consequences. It talked about a scientist that wanted to recreate clouds, so he invented the cloud chamber. Later this invention was (and still is) used to visualize nuclear radiation, eventually reaching to X-rays used frivolously to fit shoes and ending with a female scientist that tried to prove that rising cancer rates in children were related to excessive use of X-rays by doctors, but who was sidelined by a more established male doctor who didn't want to believe the medical profession had actually hurt their patients.

The painting "Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog" was used in the video, IIRC, might've even been the thumbnail.

Sound at all familiar to anyone?