Gavel to Gavel: How Murphy made his law

“If anything can go wrong, it will.”

This epigram on the perversity of the universe is known as Murphy’s Law. The story of its origin – which is not without controversy – is traced to Edwards Air Force Base in the California desert. The year was 1949.

The immutable law was named after Capt. Ed Murphy Jr., a U.S. Air Force engineer working on a project designed to determine how much deceleration human beings could survive in the event of a crash. His test utilized a rocket sled mounted on a railroad track with a series of hydraulic brakes at the end.

Though initial trials employed a crash test dummy, it was Capt. John Paul Stapp, a physician and flight surgeon, who would eventually strap himself into the seat of the sled. But before allowing Stapp to participate, Murphy conducted a trial-run using a chimpanzee. When strap sensors showed a zero reading, it was apparent to all that the gauges had been installed incorrectly – each sensor wired backward.

It was at this seminal point in history that an irritated Murphy uttered his famous words (or something close to it) and stormed out of the testing facility. A fellow engineer present at the time of the sensor malfunction would later report that Murphy blamed the failed test on his assistant, saying, “If there is any way to do it wrong, he will.”

Murphy’s comment was later condensed to its current version – and given a name – by the same engineer who had first recounted his words in an apparent mockery of perceived arrogance on Murphy’s part.

The now-famous phrase gained public attention during a press conference in which the deceleration team was asked why no one had been severely injured during the rocket sled test.

Because they always took “Murphy’s Law” under consideration, was the reply. Murphy then summarized the law, saying it generally meant that it was important to consider all the possibilities before doing a test – including things that could go wrong – and to act to counter them.

The association of Murphy’s Law with the deceleration test is not absolute. There are other similar historical adages predating Murphy, yet there appears to be no documentation of the phrase being coined “Murphy’s Law” prior to 1951.

The next citations to Murphy’s Law were not found in public literature until 1955, where Murphy’s Law was quoted as “If an aircraft part can be installed incorrectly, someone will install it that way.”

Though, by legend, its origins are connected with aerospace engineering, Murphy’s Law quickly spread to various other aspects of life, some of which have become known as the corollaries to Murphy’s Law. They include the following:

Gumperson’s Law: “The probability that anything happening is in inverse ratio to its desirability.”

Sattinger’s Law: “It works better if you plug it in.”

Rule of Accuracy: “When working towards the solution of a problem, it always helps if you know the answer.”

Stockmayer’s Theorem: “If it looks easy, it’s tough. If it looks tough, it’s impossible.”

Featherkile’s Rule: “Whatever you did, that’s what you planned.”

Jenkinson’s Law: “It won’t work.”

And finally …

Sheryl Crow: “If it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad.”

Tom Wolfe is a civil litigator who serves as president and managing partner of Phillips Murrah P.C. in Oklahoma City.