header should read 1952 was Re: [ADS-L] antedating of "Murphy's Law" Sept. 1953

[Stephen Goranson]

Quoting Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu>:

> Previously Fred Shapiro noted the use of the collocation "Murphy's
> Law" in its
> now well-known sense in 1953.
>
> Scientific American, September 1952
> "The Amateur Scientist: About home-made cloud chambers and the fine
> telescope of a Portugese navy officer," Conducted by Albert G. Ingalls, pp.
> 179f.
>
> p.181 col. 1
> At this point enters the well-known 'first law of research'--sometimes called
> 'Murphy's law.' The law may be stated roughly as follows: 'If anything can go
> wrong, it will.'
>
> p.182 col. 3
> The department has built several successful diffusion chambers based on Dr.
> Cornog's description, but in every case only after some sharp tussles with
> Murphy's law.
>
>
> Stephen Goranson
> http://www.duke.edu/~goranson
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org