Rube Goldberg and Gasoline Explosions

Rube Goldberg Would Be Proud...

When I was a young man hanging out in automotive garages in the 1960's and 1970's I remember the older mechanics making comments about a Rube Goldberg affair when they had to work on a customer's car that the customer had tried to fix something with bailing wire and electrical tape.  It clearly didn't work which is why the car ended up in the repair garage. I did not know who or what a Rube Goldberg was (and dared not ask) but I could tell by the tone of their voice and the cobbled up mess they were working on that the customer was no mechanic. About ten years ago I finally leaned that Rube Goldberg was a real person and he was known for inventing complicated machines to do simple tasks. So what does all of this have to do with how gasoline explodes inside of a cylinder? Glad you ask. Grab some popcorn and watch the movie. You will learn who Rube Goldberg was and how that relates to gasoline firing in a cylinder.

Oh... and for those of you who want the official bio of one Mr Rube Goldberg here it is ...

Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) was a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist best known for his zany invention cartoons. He was born in San Francisco on the 4th of July, 1883 – and graduated from U. Cal Berkeley with a degree in engineering. His first job at the San Francisco Chronicle led to early success, but it wasn’t until he moved to NYC and began working for Hearst publications that he became a household name. Rube Goldberg is the only person ever to be listed in the Merriam Webster Dictionary as an adjective. It’s estimated that he did a staggering 50,000 cartoons in his lifetime. You can see him in action in the movie below.

And here is the movie that explains how gasoline explodes inside of a cylinder. When I watched this the first time I was amazed at their lack of safety procedures. This was clearly filmed long before a government program called OSHA got involved in the work place. Enjoy !