History of Automobiles
You must have heard the word
Automobile. Meaning of an automobile can be auto car, motor car or
car. It is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting goods or
passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor. The word
automobile comes from the Ancient Greek word (autos, "self")
and the Latin mobiles ("movable"); therefore automobile
means a vehicle that moves itself. The alternative name car is
believed to originate from the Latin word carrus or carrum.
("wheeled
vehicle"), or the Middle English word car ("cart")
(from Old North French). These words in turn are said to have
originated from the Gaulish word karros (a Gallic Chariot). Most
definitions of the term specify that Automobiles are designed to run
primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to
typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally for the
transport of people and goods.
In this Unit, you will develop an
understanding of the concept of wheel and role of wheel cart. You
will also learn various stages of development over several hundred
years that made possible the invention of an Automobile as we know it
today.
INVENTION OF WHEEL
The Wheel is considered as one of the
most important mechanical inventions of all time. The wheel has been
used by man since the beginning of civilization. Most primitive
technologies since the invention of the wheel have been based on its
principles. The invention of the Wheel was perhaps in the late
Neolithic age. It is likely that it happened along with other
technological advances that gave rise to the early Bronze Age. 4500
BC : Invention of the potter's wheel, Chalcolithic 4500–3300 BC : Chalcolithic, earliest wheeled vehicles,
domestication of the horse 3300–2200 BC : Early Bronze Age
2200–1550 BC : Middle Bronze Age, invention of the spoked wheel and
the Chariot.
Since the industrial revolution, the
Wheel has been a basic element of nearly every machine constructed by
mankind. While the exact time and place of the invention of the wheel
has been disputed but its beginnings can be seen across ancient
civilizations. History tells us that wheel was most likely invented
in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) around 3500 BC.
This means that the
Wheel is about 5,500 years old ! The first use of the wheel for
transportation was in Mesopotamian chariots in 3200 BC. There are
many references to wheeled chariots in Indian mythology also dating
to around 3,000 BC. It is interesting to note that wheels may have
been used in industrial or manufacturing applications before they
were used on vehicles. Egyptians started using wheel with spokes,
first in chariots around 2000 BC and use of wheels seems to have
started in Europe by 1400 BC.
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