We were asked to explore the impact of a single social or cultural innovation on any society, as a whole, being free to choose any innovation that interested us.
             The internal combustion engine is being used today in thousands of different products around the world today. From automobiles, to oil pumps, to generators for houses. Different forms of the engine are being used, like the 2-stroke and the 4-stroke engines.
             Basically, a 4-stroke works like this: 1.) The intake valve opens in the piston and allows a gas/air mixture to enter the cylinder. 2.) When the mixture is completely in the cylinder, the crankshaft compresses, or smashes, the mixture and ignites it with the sparkplug. 3.) The explosion from the mixture, around 3 tons of force, propels the crankshaft back down, providing the kinetic energy. 4.) The Exhaust valve opens and releases the spent mixture's components. Harold T. Glenn, in his book Exploring Power Mechanics states that "this sequence of events is known as the 4-stroke cycle because of the four strokes involved." ***
             Marshall Brain, in his article in "How The Car Works" states that the concept is similar to a the mechanics of a cannon. Load the cannon with powder, put a cannon ball on the top, and ignite the powder. The resulting explosion is similar to what happens in an engine . ***
             Another example that Marshall Brain mentions is the concept of a potato gun. If you were to cap a 3 inch plumbing pipe with an igniter attached, sprayed some WD-40 in one end and a potato in the other, the ignited the WD-40 would explode and force the potato out at a great velocity. The gasoline engine doesn't operate much different than this. The gasoline/air mixture is the WD-40, the igniter is the sparkplug, and the plumbing pipe the engines cylinder. ***
             In the American culture the internal combustion engine has played a very specific role in most aspects of our liv...