Murphy was not a myth. Who knew? -- Marc Abrahams, Editor Annals of Improbable Research
A hilarious work of non-fiction, A History of Murphy's Law probes the mystery surrounding the origins of one of the world's most well known statements of philosophy: Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. While writing an article for an aviation history magazine, author Nick T. Spark learns that a man named Murphy worked at Edwards Air Force Base in the 1940s, and that the Law was coined after a rocket sled experiment went awry. But is this really what happened, and if so what are the circumstances surround the Law's discovery? And if Murphy really did exist, who was he and what became of him? Spark's attempts to pin down the mysterious origins of the Law and to answer these questions are amusing and revelatory, and surprisingly controversial. With a real-life cast including famed car crash researcher Dr. John Paul Stapp, test pilot Chuck Yeager, and an engineer named Ed Murphy, A History of Murphy's Law is an uncommon delight. Read it, and find out why everything you ever thought you knew about Murphy's Law -- is wrong.
Originally published in serial form in the storied magazine Annals of Improbable Research, A History of Murphy's Law led to the awarding of a special Ig Nobel Prize to the originators of the aphorism. This book version contains a greatly expanded exploration of all things Murphy, numerous photographs, a new foreword by AIR editor Marc Abrahams and an after word by Nick T. Spark.
A hilarious work of non-fiction, A History of Murphy's Law probes the mystery surrounding the origins of one of the world's most well known statements of philosophy: Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. While writing an article for an aviation history magazine, author Nick T. Spark learns that a man named Murphy worked at Edwards Air Force Base in the 1940s, and that the Law was coined after a rocket sled experiment went awry. But is this really what happened, and if so what are the circumstances surround the Law's discovery? And if Murphy really did exist, who was he and what became of him? Spark's attempts to pin down the mysterious origins of the Law and to answer these questions are amusing and revelatory, and surprisingly controversial. With a real-life cast including famed car crash researcher Dr. John Paul Stapp, test pilot Chuck Yeager, and an engineer named Ed Murphy, A History of Murphy's Law is an uncommon delight. Read it, and find out why everything you ever thought you knew about Murphy's Law -- is wrong.
Originally published in serial form in the storied magazine Annals of Improbable Research, A History of Murphy's Law led to the awarding of a special Ig Nobel Prize to the originators of the aphorism. This book version contains a greatly expanded exploration of all things Murphy, numerous photographs, a new foreword by AIR editor Marc Abrahams and an after word by Nick T. Spark.
