Who was the inventor of the automobile? Is it karl benz or Henry Ford? There has been controversy for a long time, because both of them have made great contributions to the automobile. The former made the prototype of modern automobile in Germany in 1886, while the latter made the automobile "steel monster" widely known by assembly line production. But there can only be one inventor. Now it is generally acknowledged in the world that the automobile was invented by karl benz. There are two reasons: first, the prototype of the car was built at that time, except for three wheels, and the original technologies such as single-cylinder four-stroke gasoline engine, electric ignition and carburetor laid the foundation for car design in one fell swoop, even the current car can't jump out of this box; Secondly, karl benz applied for a patent at the same time, which was a very wise decision, which not only won him the reputation of "the father of cars", but also ensured that he would be well-fed for the rest of his life (generous patent fees).
for Henry Ford, he didn't care about this hollow reputation, because the Model T he produced always produced 15 million cars, and this record was not surpassed by Volkswagen's Beetle until decades later. The industry gave him the evaluation of "putting wheels on the world", one because he made cars popular, and the other because his original assembly line production influenced the production mode of the whole society.
In short, thanks to the efforts of two geniuses, karl benz and Henry Ford, the automobile was finally born, which is really gratifying. The influence of the automobile on the whole industrial civilization will not be repeated here. But it also raises another question: Why can't cars be born in China first? Why didn't Ben Ci and Ford appear in China?
In fact, Ben Ci and Ford have just finished the final goal, just like the strikers on the football field, but we can't ignore the strong and luxurious "center and back court" behind them. These center and back courts are the research and accumulation of natural science for hundreds of years, which were not available in China in Qing Dynasty and modern times.
Let's take a look at this list of "luxury midfielders". The first one is Newton, who invented the gravitational constant (1665), which laid the physical foundation for the invention of automobiles. The second is Watt, who improved the steam engine for his living (1784). The third is Otto, whose contribution is to put forward the four-stroke theory of internal combustion engine, which laid a theoretical foundation for the invention of internal combustion engine. The fourth is the English government, which established a patent protection system to encourage invention and creation. In addition, the invention of the car also thanks to their "coach"-the great geographical discovery since 1488, which laid a solid material foundation.
what was China doing in the same period? From 1644 to 1912, it was the last feudal dynasty in China, the Qing Dynasty. During the 2-year rule, although the civilization was passed down, the whole natural science was crawling forward with the reputation of "fantastic things and clever things". There was no government support, no source of funds, and there was no reasonable classification, let alone accumulation and transmission, so it was not surprising that cars were not born in China. It was not until 1953 that China set up its own automobile factory, China FAW, which was already 5 years behind the world automobile industry.