The invention of the automobile, or car as it will now on be referred to, was one of the most profound inventions during the Industrial Revolution, and is a technology that is constantly being improved upon hundreds of years later to aid with both transportation and economy issues such as CO2. The car revolutionized the way we as humans perceived the world, not only in where we could go, but what we could do and what we could accomplish.
The car is perhaps one of the most perfect examples of the evolution of technology. Before the 18th and 19th century (or the industrial age as that era is referred to) the idea of faster transportation already existed without the car. During the middle ages of Europe, streets were nothing more than open cracks in the road, and transportation for humans did not exist (History of Transport and Travel, n.d.).
However, goods were transported on wheels throughout the cities, and this was a clear indication that people who lived in that era preferred easier travel. In fact, this practice was seen as early as the Bronze Age, which for Great Britain, lay around 1900BC (Bronze Age, n.d.). Fortunately, roads in Europe started to become better paved and thus spawned the inventions of faster transportation. This is profound, as this references the beginning stages of what we now refer to as the car to more than 2500 years ago.
During the pre-industrial age, perhaps the biggest indication of the invention of the car was the horse and carriage. Early depictions of the horse and carriage date back as early as 1605, where the horse and carriage is available for hire by city residents (History of Transport and Travel, n.d.). It must be noted that without the technology that paved roads, it is highly unlikely that even the horse and carriage existed. So ultimately, it could be said that paved roads were the first step to what we now call modern travel.
The next stage in the evolution of the car was perhaps the coach, similar to the horse and carriage but more ‘modern’ and generally used for the higher classes, much like today’s modern limousine. Samuel Pepys, an inventor during this time, found it ‘embarrassing’ that anyone could be seen riding a common old carriage and thus acquires his own coach and coachman (History of Transport and Travel n.d.). This eventually leads to the evolution of the coachman and the comforts that it provided.
Thus, the stage is set for something even more remarkable.
The industrial revolution was by far the most economic monument in history (De Vries, 1994, p. 249). It spawned numerous inventions, one of which was the car. The first true and practical automobile was invented by Karl Benz, which was powered by an internal combustion engine in 1885 (Karl Benz, n.d.). However, it’s important to note (though it will not be referenced again) that the earliest depiction of the car may date back as early as 1771 by Nicolas Jospeh Cugno, which was a three wheeled, steam powered 2.3MPH contraption built for the French Minister of War (History of Transport and Travel, n.d.).
A notable figure in history that described the invention of the car as ‘evil’, was JRR Tolkien. In fact, during a behind the scenes DVD of the Lord of the Rings, historians claim that Tolkien saw the car as one of the greatest evils that came to man. This of course, did not stop the evolution of the car. On January 29, 1886, Benz received a patent for a gas fueled car, and in 1891 built the first four wheeled car (Karl Benz, n.d.). As this evolution progressed, transportation as we know it was changed forever.
Perhaps something remarkable about the car (and why it’s such a great technological evolutionary example) is that it not only spawned better cars, but other modes of transportation as well. It’s clear that the invention of the engine lead to other monumental inventions such as the airplane.
As we live today, in the post-industrial era, we are seeing some of the same things that were seen during the horse and carriage era and coachman, such as the increase in comfort in our cars and overall just a better way to travel. It’s clear that the only things that have really changed from the invention of the first car is the look and speed of what we have to work with. Clearly, we have not broken with the four wheel formula yet (cars, not motorbikes), and it’s something we should continue to use in the future.
Clearly though, with the need to invent new hybrid vehicles these days, and with the rush to better the our fuel economy in this post-industrial era, we may look back to JRR Tolkien, and maybe admit that he was, at least in a little way, right.
References:
Bronze Age. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25th, 2010 from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/81017/Bronze-Age
De Vries, J. (1994). The Journal of Economic History. Retrieved March 25th, 2010 from http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/stable/2123912?cookieSet=1
History of Transport and Travel. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25th, 2010 from http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=kwq
Karl Benz. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25th, 2010 from http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbenz.htm
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