Rudolf Diesel
A German inventor and mechanical engineer, famous for the invention of the diesel engine.
Most quoted
"The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become in the course of time as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time."
— from Speech, 1912
"The internal combustion engine, in its present form, is a very inefficient machine. My aim is to create an engine that converts a much larger percentage of the fuel's energy into useful work."
— from Patent application for the Diesel engine, 1892
"My engine is designed to work with vegetable and seed oils, special fuel oils, and is therefore particularly adapted to the production of power in case of the interruption of the coal supply."
— from Exhibition Statement, 1900
All quotes by Rudolf Diesel (413)
Fuel is stored sunlight; the engine is simply a device for releasing it.
Progress is measured by the increase in useful work from a given amount of fuel.
The diesel engine is the democratization of power.
I dream of engines that empower the small farmer and the local craftsman.
The true test of an engine is not on the test stand, but in decades of faithful service.
Complexity is the enemy of maintenance and the friend of failure.
Air is the working body; fuel is merely the key that unlocks its energy.
An invention is not complete until it is in the hands of those who need it.
The heat of compression is the soul of the diesel engine.
I have sought to replace the firebox and boiler with a simple cylinder.
The pursuit of efficiency is a moral duty, for it conserves the resources of the earth.
My principle is based on an idea so clear that it cannot fail.
The engine will outlive me, and that is the greatest reward for an engineer.
Contemporaries of Rudolf Diesel
Other Engineerings born within 50 years of Rudolf Diesel (1858–1913).