I came across this document Binary Search Revisited where the authors have proved/explained that binary search can be used for unsorted arrays (lists) as well. I haven't grokked much of the document on a first reading.
Have any of you already explored this ?
I've just read the paper. To me the author uses the term binary search to address the Bisection method used to find the zeros of a continuous function.
The examples in the paper are clearly inspired to problems like find the zero into an interval (with translation on the y axe) or find the max/min of a function in tabular data.
The arrays the essay consider are not random filled ones, you will find a rule to construct them (it is the rule tied to the function used to dump them)
Said that it is a good chance of tinkering about different algorithms belonging to a common family in order to find similarity and differences. A good chance to expand your experiences.
Definitely not a new concept or an undervalued one.