On Wed, 25 May 2005, Michael JasonSmith wrote:
> On Wed, 2005-05-25 at 00:58 +0200, Martin Bähr wrote:
> > yup and, also do not forget:
> > murphy was an optimist.
> Not really. Capt. Edward A. Murphy, the US Army Air-Force technician,
> was someone who had to work with others, and it got him down now and
> again, which lead to his statement ‘If there’s any way they can do it
> wrong, they will.’
> http://www.improb.com/airchives/paperair/volume9/v9i5/murphy/murphy1.html
From the Jargon file.
":Murphy's Law: /prov./ The correct, *original* Murphy's
Law reads: "If there are two or more ways to do something, and one
of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do
it." This is a principle of defensive design, cited here because
it is usually given in mutant forms less descriptive of the
challenges of design for {luser}s. For example, you don't make a
two-pin plug symmetrical and then label it `THIS WAY UP'; if it
matters which way it is plugged in, then you make the design
asymmetrical (see also the anecdote under {magic smoke}).
Edward A. Murphy, Jr. was one of the engineers on the rocket-sled
experiments that were done by the U.S. Air Force in 1949 to test
human acceleration tolerances (USAF project MX981). One experiment
involved a set of 16 accelerometers mounted to different parts of
the subject's body. There were two ways each sensor could be glued
to its mount, and somebody methodically installed all 16 the wrong
way around. Murphy then made the original form of his
pronouncement, which the test subject (Major John Paul Stapp)
quoted at a news conference a few days later."
Finagle's Law is oftem attributed to Murphy.
Phil.
--
Philip Charles; 39a Paterson Street, Abbotsford, Dunedin, New Zealand
+64 3 488 2818 Fax +64 3 488 2875 Mobile 025 267 9420
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