The Silent Otto - Revision history

Toro Andersen at 12:19, 22 March 2026

2026-03-22T12:19:18Z

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	# Schweitzer and Grunder, p. 547; Motortechnische Zeitschrift, XXIV (1963), 30.		# Schweitzer and Grunder, p. 547; Motortechnische Zeitschrift, XXIV (1963), 30.
	# Barber et al., pp. 28-29.		# Barber et al., pp. 28-29.
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Toro Andersen at 20:31, 1 February 2025

2025-02-01T20:31:45Z

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	# Schweitzer and Grunder, p. 547; Motortechnische Zeitschrift, XXIV (1963), 30.		# Schweitzer and Grunder, p. 547; Motortechnische Zeitschrift, XXIV (1963), 30.
	# Barber et al., pp. 28-29.		# Barber et al., pp. 28-29.
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Toro Andersen at 10:39, 1 February 2025

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Toro Andersen at 09:55, 1 February 2025

2025-02-01T09:55:31Z

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	[[File:Otto and Langens gas engine.png\|alt=Fig. 3.— An Otro & Langen atmospheric gas engine of 1867. (Werkfoto Deutz.)\|none\|thumb\|Fig. 3.— An Otro & Langen atmospheric gas engine of 1867. (Werkfoto Deutz.)]]		[[File:Otto and Langens gas engine.png\|alt=Fig. 3.— An Otro & Langen atmospheric gas engine of 1867. (Werkfoto Deutz.)\|none\|thumb\|Fig. 3.— An Otro & Langen atmospheric gas engine of 1867. (Werkfoto Deutz.)]]
	[[File:Silent Otto 1876.png\|alt=Figure 4\|none\|thumb\|Figure 4]]		[[File:Silent Otto 1876.png\|alt=Figure 4\|none\|thumb\|Figure 4]]
			[[File:Silent Otto Fig 5.png\|alt=Fig. 5.—Illustrations of different concepts of the structure of the mixture in the combustion chamber of a gas engine. (Pl. Vi. of Eugen Langen, cited in n. 10)\|none\|thumb\|Figure. 5.—Illustrations of different concepts of the structure of the mixture in the combustion chamber of a gas engine. (Pl. Vi. of Eugen Langen, cited in n. 10)]]

Toro Andersen at 09:46, 1 February 2025

2025-02-01T09:46:00Z

@@ Line 79: / Line 79: @@
 But for Otto the decisive battle was fought in Germany, and there he suffered a humiliating defeat in 1886. In his homeland, Otto’s strong and numerous competitors, aggrieved by his very comprehensive thought he could detect this kind of burning through a pressure-volume diagram of the kind provided by the indicator mechanism used since the time of James Watt to give a running record of pressures within cylinders of steam and gas engines. The indicator diagrams that Otto took from a Lenoir engine showed a sharply oscillating and rapidly declining pressure after ignition. Those oscillations, he said, represented the shocks that he had been trying to eliminate. The diagram that he took from his own engine showed a smoother and slower decline of pressure after ignition. What I claim as my invention, Otto said in effect, is the special structure of the gases that causes the special kind of burning that causes this smooth and slow expansion curve on the indicator diagram?®® (Fig. 6).
-But for Otto the decisive battle was fought in Germany, and there he
+But for Otto the decisive battle was fought in Germany, and there he suffered a humiliating defeat in 1886. In his homeland, Otto’s strong and numerous competitors, aggrieved by his very comprehensive It was an ironic defeat, for it was Otto himself, or his Gasmotorenfabrik, who insisted on the inquiry that led to his ruin,* and Otto was a proud man, sensitive in matters of prestige and precedence. He is said to
 have died an embittered man, deeply resenting this legal defeat as a re-
@@ Line 149: / Line 139: @@
 <nowiki>*</nowiki> * *
-If this were the end of the story, we should have another case of an
+If this were the end of the story, we should have another case of an inventor who was wrong but successful, and we might extract from it the moral that good engineering can be based on bad science. But it is
-chamber and there set fire to a mixture so lean that otherwise it would
+not the end of the story. The fact is that Otto’s idea of the stratified charge keeps reappearing, and historians loyal to the memory of Otto can take considerable comfort in the revival of interest in his favorite
-not burn at all.38 This is exactly the same idea that Otto had when he
+idea that has taken place in recent years. The very phrase “stratified charge,” which caused Otto so much trouble, is now appearing again in the literature.
-provided a long, narrow passage as entrance to his combustion chamber
+In 1922 Sir Harry Ricardo (1885——) re-invented the stratified charge: he proposed igniting an especially rich mixture in a bulbous antechamber so that a flame would shoot out into the main combustion chamber and there set fire to a mixture so lean that otherwise it would not burn at all.38 This is exactly the same idea that Otto had when he provided a long, narrow passage as entrance to his combustion chamber
 during the first months of his work on the Silent Otto: It was sup-
@@ Line 276: / Line 244: @@
 # E.g., the Atkinson engine described in Donkin, pp. 104-5, or in the Scientific American Supplement, XXVII (1889), 10929.
 # I note that Frank Duryea’s first engine in America, also a failure, had a similar free-piston arrangement to drive out exhaust and that the free piston apparently caused loud knocks (Don H. Berkebile, “The 1893 Duryea Automobile,” United States National Museum Bulletin 240 [Washington, D.C., 1964], pp. 10-15).
+# Sass, p. 26.
+# Ibid., p. 31.
+# Matschoss, p. 42; Arnold Langen, p. 173; and Sass, p. 54.
-Schweitzer and Grunder, p. 547; Motortechnische Zeitschrift, XXIV (1963), 30.
+# For- the history of the Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz see the works by Matschoss and Arnold Langen already cited, and also a new centennial history by Gustav Goldbeck, Kraft fiir die Welt: 1864-1964. Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz AG (Düsseldorf, 1964).
+# Franz Reuleaux, The Kinematics of Machinery: Outlines of a Theory of Machines (New York, 1963), p. 524.
-Barber et al., pp. 28-29.
+# Arnold Langen, passim.

Toro Andersen at 22:51, 31 January 2025

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Toro Andersen at 22:02, 31 January 2025

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Toro Andersen at 18:48, 31 January 2025

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Toro Andersen at 18:25, 31 January 2025

2025-01-31T18:25:36Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:25, 31 January 2025
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	Recently, e.g. by Gustav Goldbeck in “Entwicklungsstufen des Verbrennungsmotors,” Motortechnische Zeitschrift, XXIII (1962), 76-80, and in several other articles; by Friedrich Sass in Geschichte des deutschen Verbrennungsmotorenbaues von 1860 bis 1918 (Berlin, 1962), pp. 19-74, 147-67; and by Arnold Langen in Nicolaus August Otto, der Schopfer des Verbrennungsmotors (Stuttgart, 1949). I rely heavily on Professor Sass for information about engines. I also acknowledge very helpful conversations with Dr. Goldbeck, archivist of Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz, and with Professors C. Fayette Taylor and Augustus R. Rogowski of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ==		#Recently, e.g. by Gustav Goldbeck in “Entwicklungsstufen des Verbrennungsmotors,” Motortechnische Zeitschrift, XXIII (1962), 76-80, and in several other articles; by Friedrich Sass in Geschichte des deutschen Verbrennungsmotorenbaues von 1860 bis 1918 (Berlin, 1962), pp. 19-74, 147-67; and by Arnold Langen in Nicolaus August Otto, der Schopfer des Verbrennungsmotors (Stuttgart, 1949). I rely heavily on Professor Sass for information about engines. I also acknowledge very helpful conversations with Dr. Goldbeck, archivist of Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz, and with Professors C. Fayette Taylor and Augustus R. Rogowski of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
	# Sass, p. 44; Paul Gille, “Beau de Rochas. Les trois mémoires de 1862 sur différentes conditions d’application de Iénergie,” Documents pour Pbistoire des techniques, No. 2, p. 37; Conrad Matschoss, Geschichte der Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz (Berlin, 1921), p. 55.		# Sass, p. 44; Paul Gille, “Beau de Rochas. Les trois mémoires de 1862 sur différentes conditions d’application de Iénergie,” Documents pour Pbistoire des techniques, No. 2, p. 37; Conrad Matschoss, Geschichte der Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz (Berlin, 1921), p. 55.
	# Gustav Goldbeck, “Nicolas-Auguste Otto (1832-1881),” Documents pour Ibistoire des techniques, No. 1, p. 38. The year of Otto’s death is misprinted in this title. It should be 1891.		# Gustav Goldbeck, “Nicolas-Auguste Otto (1832-1881),” Documents pour Ibistoire des techniques, No. 1, p. 38. The year of Otto’s death is misprinted in this title. It should be 1891.

Toro Andersen at 18:24, 31 January 2025

2025-01-31T18:24:34Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:24, 31 January 2025
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			Recently, e.g. by Gustav Goldbeck in “Entwicklungsstufen des Verbrennungsmotors,” Motortechnische Zeitschrift, XXIII (1962), 76-80, and in several other articles; by Friedrich Sass in Geschichte des deutschen Verbrennungsmotorenbaues von 1860 bis 1918 (Berlin, 1962), pp. 19-74, 147-67; and by Arnold Langen in Nicolaus August Otto, der Schopfer des Verbrennungsmotors (Stuttgart, 1949). I rely heavily on Professor Sass for information about engines. I also acknowledge very helpful conversations with Dr. Goldbeck, archivist of Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz, and with Professors C. Fayette Taylor and Augustus R. Rogowski of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ==
	== Recently, e.g. by Gustav Goldbeck in “Entwicklungsstufen des Verbrennungsmotors,” Motortechnische Zeitschrift, XXIII (1962), 76-80, and in several other articles; by Friedrich Sass in Geschichte des deutschen Verbrennungsmotorenbaues von 1860 bis 1918 (Berlin, 1962), pp. 19-74, 147-67; and by Arnold Langen in Nicolaus August Otto, der Schopfer des Verbrennungsmotors (Stuttgart, 1949). I rely heavily on Professor Sass for information about engines. I also acknowledge very helpful conversations with Dr. Goldbeck, archivist of Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz, and with Professors C. Fayette Taylor and Augustus R. Rogowski of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ==
	# Sass, p. 44; Paul Gille, “Beau de Rochas. Les trois mémoires de 1862 sur différentes conditions d’application de Iénergie,” Documents pour Pbistoire des techniques, No. 2, p. 37; Conrad Matschoss, Geschichte der Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz (Berlin, 1921), p. 55.		# Sass, p. 44; Paul Gille, “Beau de Rochas. Les trois mémoires de 1862 sur différentes conditions d’application de Iénergie,” Documents pour Pbistoire des techniques, No. 2, p. 37; Conrad Matschoss, Geschichte der Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz (Berlin, 1921), p. 55.
	# Gustav Goldbeck, “Nicolas-Auguste Otto (1832-1881),” Documents pour Ibistoire des techniques, No. 1, p. 38. The year of Otto’s death is misprinted in this title. It should be 1891.		# Gustav Goldbeck, “Nicolas-Auguste Otto (1832-1881),” Documents pour Ibistoire des techniques, No. 1, p. 38. The year of Otto’s death is misprinted in this title. It should be 1891.
	# Sass, p. 319.		# Sass, p. 319.
	# Matschoss, pp. 107-8.		# Matschoss, pp. 107-8.
	# For an early popular account see Alfred Darcel, “Un nouveau Moteur,” L’Dlustration, XXXV (1860), 342-43. For a technical study see H. Tresca, “Procés-		# For an early popular account see Alfred Darcel, “Un nouveau Moteur,” L’Dlustration, XXXV (1860), 342-43. For a technical study see H. Tresca, “Procés-Verbal des expériences faites sur les moteurs a gaz de M. Lenoir,” Annales du Conservatoire Impérial des Arts et Métiers, 1 (1861), 849-79. Articles by engineers appearing in German journals that Otto could have seen are conveniently summarized under the heading “Gaskraftmaschine” in Jabresbericht iiber die Fortschritte der mechanischen Technik und Technologie, 1 (1863), 111-31. “According to Cosmos, and other French papers,” said the Scientific American (III [1860], 193), “the age of steam is ended—Watt and Fulton will soon be forgotten. This is the way they do such things in France.”

	Verbal des expériences faites sur les moteurs a gaz de M. Lenoir,” Annales du ~~Con-~~

	~~servatoire~~ Impérial des Arts et Métiers, 1 (1861), 849-79. Articles by engineers

	appearing in German journals that Otto could have seen are conveniently ~~sum-~~

	~~marized~~ under the heading “Gaskraftmaschine” in Jabresbericht iiber die ~~Fort-~~

	~~schritte~~ der mechanischen Technik und Technologie, 1 (1863), 111-31. “According

	to Cosmos, and other French papers,” said the Scientific American (III [1860], 193),

	“the age of steam is ended—Watt and Fulton will soon be forgotten. This is the way

	they do such things in France.”

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	[[File:Otto and Langens gas engine.png\|alt=Fig. 3.— An Otro & Langen atmospheric gas engine of 1867. (Werkfoto Deutz.)\|none\|thumb\|Fig. 3.— An Otro & Langen atmospheric gas engine of 1867. (Werkfoto Deutz.)]]		[[File:Otto and Langens gas engine.png\|alt=Fig. 3.— An Otro & Langen atmospheric gas engine of 1867. (Werkfoto Deutz.)\|none\|thumb\|Fig. 3.— An Otro & Langen atmospheric gas engine of 1867. (Werkfoto Deutz.)]]
	[[File:Silent Otto 1876.png\|alt=Figure 4\|none\|thumb\|Figure 4]]		[[File:Silent Otto 1876.png\|alt=Figure 4\|none\|thumb\|Figure 4]]
			[[File:Silent Otto Fig 5.png\|alt=Fig. 5.—Illustrations of different concepts of the structure of the mixture in the combustion chamber of a gas engine. (Pl. Vi. of Eugen Langen, cited in n. 10)\|none\|thumb\|Figure. 5.—Illustrations of different concepts of the structure of the mixture in the combustion chamber of a gas engine. (Pl. Vi. of Eugen Langen, cited in n. 10)]]