Everyone knows Murphy's Law: If anything can go wrong, it will. Most of us, most of the time, do not take it seriously. It merely expresses our sense of the perversity of inanimate ob- jects, the ironies and frustrations of everyday life.
Scientists and engineers, however, take Murphy's Law seri- ously, though not literally, in building a nuclear power station or planning a space flight. The stakes are too great not to. In a similar way, many thoughtful persons take Murphy's Law seri- ously,...