Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 02:14:11 -0400

From: "Barry A. Popik" Bapopik[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM

Subject: "Murphy's Law" and aviation oral history



"MURPHY'S LAW"

BRIEF RESEARCH SUMMARY:



FIRST STAGE: Earlier this year, Eddie Murphy starred in the forgettable

movie METRO. An AOL board for Cecil Adams ("The Straight Dope") discussed

Murphy's Law. I found the 1957 MURPHY'S LAW Navy training film with a

Worldcat search, and I posted the findings on ADS-L. I also checked science

fiction titles, but the earliest "Murphy's Law" short story title was in

AMAZING SCIENCE FACT, SCIENCE FICTION, in 1958.

SECOND STAGE: This month, I checked the entries in two newly published

books--RHHDAS H-O and Hugh Rawson's UNWRITTEN LAWS: THE UNOFFICIAL RULES

OF

LIFE AS HANDED DOWN BY MURPHY AND OTHER SAGES. I also checked the

publications Aviation Week, Aviation Age, Aviation Mechanics Bulletin, and

Approach, as well as relevant entries in the Readers' Guide to Periodical

Literature and The New York Times Index.

REMAINING PROBLEMS: The main problem is that Murphy (if there is a real

Murphy) has never come forward. Why not? Is Murphy still alive? Can we

talk to him if he is??

The other problem is that "Murphy's Law" allegedly started in 1949, but

the first citation is in 1955. George Nichols, chief of the Northrop crew,

explained (in the late 1970s) that Lt. Col. John P. Stapp had used "Murphy's

Law" in a press conference. I found no such quotation in any Readers' Guide

"Stapp" citation.

It's important to nail "Murphy's Law" down because (1) it's a widely

used Americanism, (2) we probably CAN nail it down, (3) the people involved

might still be alive, and (4) it was my father's favorite phrase.

We continue....



------------------------------------------------