World on wheels From animal power to engines Few inventions changed people’s lives more than the automobile Before the 1700s all land vehicles such as carts and carriages were pulled by animals Most people could not afford a horse or any sort of road vehicle and had to rely on their legs to carry them to where they wanted to go Then came two revolutionary inventions first the steam locomotive and then in 1885 the automobile From steam to gas Steam engines were first used in the early 1700s to drive pumps and later to power ships trains and factory machines Steam was also tried on the road but it was not 6 very successful The modern revolution in road travel really began with the invention of the internal combustion engine Slowly motorized cars and trucks replaced horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts Since the first cars appeared on the roads over one hundred years ago scientists and engineers have made many more improvements in auto technology to produce the fast comfortable and safe cars we use today Those changes are ongoing as companies look to design cars for the future that use lighter materials and run on cleaner alternative fuels Putting the pieces together Many of the early car pioneers worked alone They made parts themselves coming up with and borrowing ideas and adapting useful existing technology Paris France in the 1860s Horse-drawn carts and carriages rattled along city streets but most people had to walk to wherever they needed to go But less than 30 years later cars had joined the Paris street traffic
for example from the steam engine and the bicycle Pioneers were also quick to adopt new technologies such as electric batteries or air-filled rubber tires Often two inventors would have the same idea independently Some inventors became rich and famous founding international businesses Others gave up and were soon forgotten THAT’S A FACT In 1900 there were fewer than 25,000 cars in the world By 1910 that number had risen to about one million Today there are more than one billion Car manufacturers make more than 60 million cars every year In Paris today the streets are crowded with automobiles Cities have had to adapt to the car an invention that many people think they could not live without Over the years each new piece of auto technology has been a breakthrough but when Karl Benz drove his first car in 1885 he started a revolution The car created new industries changed the way people spent their leisure time and altered the landscape Today with millions of cars on busy roads across every continent the car’s success has become a challenge to science Too many cars burn too much gas and give off too much harmful waste The challenge now is to make new cars that use fuels that are less harmful to the environment Today’s science breakthroughs will create the cars of tomorrow 7
