Top Highlights

• I was doing what I always do to connect with a new idea. I was on my computer, exploring anything and everything, plucking the threads of random discovery that bring me to different eras and geographies.
• The Diesel engine didn’t require hours to boil water. It operated immediately from a cold start. Nor did it require teams of men to stoke the fires, but simply drew liquid fuel automatically from a tank. The compact engine had no boiler, no furnace nor chimney apparatus at all. Diesel burned a viscous fuel that had no fumes, was safe to store, and ...
• One theory pointed to the German emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and his agents, hypothesizing that the kaiser was so enraged by Diesel’s rumored business dealings with the British that he had ordered the inventor’s murder. One headline read, “Inventor Thrown into the Sea to Stop Sale of Patents to the British Government.” The other high-profile person...
• At an early age he possessed a level of sustained focus that amazed his sisters and mother, but Rudolf’s father found his son’s analytical nature troubling. Like Elise, Theodor recognized that Rudolf’s relentless curiosity could lead him to a life beyond the tradition of his father’s humble workshop—and from Theodor’s vantage, the workshop was wher...
• After Theodor yelled at Rudolf and lashed him with a leather strap, the rest of the family went on their excursion. Seven-year-old Rudolf spent the day alone at home, shackled to a heavy sofa.