THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - (1600-1885)

Now this is an invention that we can all appreciate. No matter you’re feeling towards engineering, physics or even science on the whole, it’s a safe bet that you either have (or want) a car. The reason for this is hardly a mystery, because the advantage of cars is the freedom that it gives you, the driver. I mean c’mon, who among us hasn’t had that fight with ma and pa at some point in their late teens, ending with the phrase ‘as soon as I get a car I am soooo out of here!’ And yet this minor rebellion would not be possible without the Internal Combustion Engine. Unfortunately for this relatively brief summary of such an awesome invention, there is no one man to which we can credit this design. The ICE was more of a concept developed over a few hundred years than the brainchild of a single person and in many ways it is still being developed by automobile engineers today. It is important to stress however that this process was not always designed with cars in mind. Christiaan Huygens for example, a man who could arguably be credited with initial ICE theory, actually aimed to use it as a form of water pump nearly four hundred years ago. It wasn’t until the mid 19th Century that Nikolaus Otto had the wacky idea of sticking one in a car, ultimately leading to the famous four stroke engine. This was a major precursor to the design we know today and future innovators would use this as a basis for their own engines. Gottlieb Daimler was just one of these admirable chaps, introducing the carburettor (a method of fuel injection) to the engine he produced in 1885. In a moment of madness he also put that engine in a ludicrous FOUR WHEEL design! Funnily enough, the more advanced this technology became, the more people realised just how much money there was to be had in flogging it. It was thus only a matter of time before insurers, petrol companies and the tax man got in the act. In spite of this though, the ICE remains a truly stellar invention that has revolutionised the range and freedom of the average guy on the street. So until something better comes along, it’s fair to say that the car and its internal combustion engine are (just about) worth the cost of owning.