Re: What if we refuse to repeat this mistake of the Ancients: They

A number of sources talk about the French steam powered automobile,
invented by one Cugnot. Here's the Brittanica entry:


http://www.britannica.com/bps/topic/145966/Nicolas-Joseph-Cugnot

It was a three-wheeled wagon designed for hauling artillery. It had to
stop and start based on the need to build up steam. Various accounts
that I just now read based on a Google search, "french steam powered
automobile 1769," say either his patrons died and/or abandoned
sup****t, or "the money dried up" or the vehicle failed to meet the
French Army's specifications. I did not readily, on first glance, run
into technical specifics on the engine.

So, steam power was building up steam by the late 1700s! Too bad it
wasn't doing so in 200 BC! Columbus could have moved so much faster
(only to find the Vikings building railroads in North America)! :-)