Carnot writes, “The use of atmospheric air for the development of the motive power of heat… would doubtless offer a notable advantage over the vapor of water.” This prediction was borne out in the late nineteenth century by the arrival of the internal combustion engine, a device that burns petrol or diesel to raise the air temperatures in its cylinders to well over 1,000°. Rudolf Diesel, who published his theories on how to build such an engine in 1893, was inspired by Carnot’s ideas.
