Automotive Milestones

This is a general interest trade book that describes the development of automotive technology and engineering from the start of the industry before 1900 to the present day. It explains how various systems and elements in the automobile work in layman's terms, without resorting to mathematics, and highlights the keymilestones in the historical development of automotive technology. All photos and illustrations are in full color. The intended audience is older teens to adults of any age who are interested in the subject and may be involved in it as a hobby.  Sometimes referred to as "gearheads" or "motorheads", they form a huge market. Over the years many of the author's engineering students were in this category, and he often would meet with on-campus car clubs to explain the way things automotive worked, being careful to damp down or eliminate any complicated mathematics, as he does in this book. An Internet search found only titles that are either "hard-engineering oriented" -- such as publications from the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) -- or mere compendiums of dates. Books in the latter category note the milestones but without hardly any explanation at all of how these developments actually work in a technical sense - which is the aim of this book.  

"Automotive Milestones, by Robert L. Norton, is about all the mechanisms that are needed in an automobile and how they work. The book consists of eight main chapters, each one covering a major mechanical system of the automobile plus a summary chapter and appendices. There are numerous photographs and illustrations used throughout the book to support the concepts discussed.
     The author has thoroughly researched the subject and leaves the reader with a new appreciation of what has been tried over the nearly 250 years of automobile history. The book is logically organized and clearly explained in a way that only a person with in-depth knowledge could do.
     His latest book is Automotive Milestones which provides the cornerstones of a thorough understanding of automobile technology. If you are just looking for a general understanding of the automobile, looking for inspiration in support of a new idea, or just want a concise history of automotive milestones, this book is a must read."—Parker Ackley, Antique Automobile Enthusiast

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