This book covers one and a quarter century of the automobile, conceived as a cultural history of its technology, aimed at engineering students and all those who wish to have a concise introduction into the basics of automotive technology and its long-term development . Its approach is systemic and includes the behavior of drivers, producers, nonusers, victims, and other "stakeholders" as well as the discourse around mobility.
Nowadays, students of innovation prefer the term co-evolution, emphasizing the parallel and mutually dependent development of technology and society. This acknowledges the importance of contingency and of the impact of the past upon the present, the very reason why The Evolution of Automotive Technology: A Handbook looks at car technology from a long-term perspective.
Often we will conclude that the innovation was in the (re)arrangement of existing technologies.
Since its beginnings, car manufacturers have brought a total of 1 billion automobiles to the market. We are currently witnessing an explosion toward the second billion.
Looking back, we can see this history evolve through five distinctive phases:
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Emergence (1880–1917)
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Persistence (1917–1940)
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Exuberance (1945–1973)
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Doom (1973–2000)
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Confusion (2001–present)
The Evolution of Automotive Technology: A Handbook helps us understand how these phases impacted society and, in turn, shows us how car technology was influenced by car users themselves.
Preface
Chapter 1 : The Evolution of Automotive Technology
Part I : Structure
Chapter 2 : The Engine : Mixture Formation
Chapter 3 : The Engine : Ignition
Chapter 4 : The Drivetrain : How to Get the Energy from the Engine to the Wheels
Chapter 5 : The Drivetrain : Multiplying Energy, De-Multiplying Speed
Chapter 6 : The Chassis : Getting Around the Corner
Chapter 7 : Wheel Suspension : Who Will Absorb the Shocks?
Chapter 8 : Stopping the Car : How to Generate and Distribute Braking Energy
Part II : System
Chapter 9 : Automation : Driver Deskilling and the “Electronic Revolution”
Chapter 10 : Safety : From Shell to Capsule to Cocoon, from Danger to Risk
Chapter 11 : Environment : Discovering the Other
Chapter 12 : Scientification : The Co-evolution of Engineering Knowledge
Chapter 13 : Decarbonization : Searching for Radical Alternatives
Chapter 14 : Innovation : Production, Diffusion, Use
Chapter 15 : World Mobility : Shifting the Focus
Chapter 16 : Conclusions
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
