The History of The Automobile

Foreword

I have chosen to write a paper about automobiles because I have always been impressed by what the human mind can achieve, by what our ancestors invented, and, from my point of view the automobile stands among the most important inventions of all. It really made life easier for many of people all around the world.

I think we live in a world which is currently influenced by human inventions from the last few decades. Some of us do not imagine life without some devices or simple things that others invented before our time. Some good examples would be the television, invented in Germany in the 19th century, the calculator, invented in the United States of America in the middle of the 20th century, the telephone, invented in Italy in the 19th century, the mechanical clock invented way back in the 14th century, or the automobile which has its roots in the 14th century but as non-motorized vehicles built by the Italians and got its original form and structure in the 19th century.

I frequently ask myself: “How would our lives be if so many things weren’t invented?”. It is a question every human being has reached at some point in their lives. Also a frequent question I tend to ask myself is: “What else will the human mind think of?”. May be something that will at least try to make life easier. I always ask myself these questions because everything that man invented is impressive, the result of hard work, hours, days, weeks, months or may be even years of failed experiments but they kept working at something they didn’t even know for sure it’s going to be appreciated. They deserve all our respect and we must thank them for always.

People looked at automobiles then as a way of showing your financial power. After the development of car industry different types of cars appeared expensive cars and less expensive cars so that almost anyone can afford a car. Therefore, the difference between the year 1886 and the year 2007 is that in 1886 if you saw someone who had a car you could say that that person is rich, but, in 2007 it depends on the type of car one is driving so that you can say he is a rich person. It is just like a well known saying: “You are what you drive”.

An American organization has recently made a public opinion poll regarding the top 10 all time inventions. The car is placed on a well deserved rank 7 because cars permitted rapid transportation of people and goods, we can save much more time and energy.

Certainly there are many bad features automobiles that have always been pointed out so that somebody would take action and try to find a quick remedy to these situations. Cars are among the most “unfriendly” when it comes to the environment. They emit many pernicious gases that when they are inhaled by citizens can cause many diseases. On this problem science has already started to work on by trying to build a car that does not affect the environment in any way due to the fact it runs with water. Another bad aspect involving cars is the number of accidents that occur every year because of disobeying the law.