Combustion

N.Otto was selling 634, 3 hp piston engines a year by 1875 and, between 1908 and 1927, Ford sold over 4 million Model T automobiles.

In 1903 the Wright Brother's engine produced 1 horsepower for each 17 pounds of engine weight. In 1943, the Rolls-Royce Merlin aero engine developed 2,000 hp; 1.2 hp for each pound.

W.von Braun developed the V-2 long-range rocket used in 1943. Also during World War 2, A.Franz, mass-produced the Jumo 004 turbojet for German aircraft.

In 1945, the V-1 cruise missile was powered by a pulsejet engine with virtually no moving parts.

The Lockheed "Blackbird" was the fastest manned ramjet; capable of Mach 2 to 4 supersonic speeds.

On October 4, 1957 the satellite Sputnik 1 proved that the Soviets were capable of reaching any point in the USA with nuclear weapons.

The Syncom 3 communication satellite was placed in geostationary orbits over the Pacific on August 19, 1964.

In July 1969 N.Armstrong and B.Aldrin landed a Lunar Module on the moon.

WHO THE HELL ARE WE? is a series of short books and videos describing the evolution of civilization.

Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity.

It began when we learned to control fire, evolved articulate speech and stumbled onto the way to create infinite wealth; free trade. The discovery of agriculture made us richer but we also learned how to destroy wealth. Great civilization grew up but then disappeared leaving only incredible ruins and ideas.

Later books detail some of the ideas and developments that increased the average life span from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries).