Date:         Sat, 2 Oct 2010 08:24:20 -0700
Reply-To:     Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Battery placement alternatives
In-Reply-To:  <071301cb61d6$7126e0a0$6601a8c0@PROSPERITY>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

On Fri, 2010-10-01 at 19:06 -0700, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
> Sounds like a complex space station..
> absorbed matt batteries..
> propane combustion for heat a few inches away ..
>
> I am sure you're pretty safe...
> but you know Murphy's law..
> which came from the US space program I believe...
> like the early days ...60's .,.

The law that "Anything that can go wrong, will," was described well
before the space program, although Edward Murphy, an aerospace engineer,
is credited as the inspiration for the name. The law was described in a
19th century engineering society report:

        "It is found that anything that can go wrong at sea generally
        does go wrong sooner or later, so it is not to be wondered that
        owners prefer the safe to the scientific.... Sufficient stress
        can hardly be laid on the advantages of simplicity. The human
        factor cannot be safely neglected in planning machinery. If
        attention is to be obtained, the engine must be such that the
        engineer will be disposed to attend to it."

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphys_law

There is no mention of Vanagons in that article. But there is in this
post.

Murphy's law and the second law of thermodynamics both state that things
tend toward chaos. There's no fighting chaos. It will win in the long
run. Just look at my sock drawer.

--
Rocky J Squirrel