Rudolf Diesel
Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel
(March 18, 1858 - September 29, 1913)
I. Answer the questions:
What do you know about R. Diesel?
What field did he work in?
II. Read the text and fill in the chart below.
Diesel was born in Paris, France in 1858 the second of three children of Elise and Theodor Diesel. His parents were Bavarian immigrants living in Paris. Theodor Diesel, a bookbinder by trade, left his home town of Augsburg, Bavaria, in 1848. He met his wife, a daughter of a Nuremberg merchant, in Paris in 1855 and became a leather goods manufacturer there.
Rudolf Diesel spent his early childhood in France, but as a result of the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, his family was forced to leave (as were many other Germans). They settled in London. Before the end of the war in 1871, however, Diesel's mother sent 12-year-old Rudolf to Augsburg to live with his aunt and uncle to become fluent in German and to visit
the Royal County Trade School, where his uncle taught mathematics.
There he became fascinated by engineering through frequent visits to the national Conservatory of Arts and Crafts. At age 14, Rudolf wrote a letter to his parents stating that he wanted to become an engineer. After finishing his basic education at the top of his class in 1873, he enrolled at the newly-founded Industrial School of Augsburg. Two years later, he received a scholarship from the Royal Bavarian Polytechnic of Munich, which he accepted against the wishes of his parents, who would rather have seen him start to work.
One of his professors in Munich was Carl von Linde. Diesel was unable to graduate with his class in July 1879 because he fell ill with typhoid. While waiting for the next examination date, he gained practical engineering experience in Switzerland. Diesel graduated in January 1880 with the highest academic honours and returned to Paris, where he assisted his former Munich professor, Carl von Linde, with the design and construction of a modern refrigeration and ice plant. Diesel became the director of the plant one year later.
In 1883, Diesel married Martha Flasche, and continued to work for Linde, gaining numerous patents in both Germany and France.
In early 1890, Diesel moved to Berlin with his wife and three children. He first worked with steam, which lead him to build a steam engine. During tests, however, the engine exploded and almost killed him. He spent many months in a hospital, followed by health and eyesight problems. He then began designing another engine, and in 1893, soon after Karl Benz was granted a patent for his invention of the motor car in 1886, Diesel published his work Theory and Construction of a Rational Heat-engine to Replace the Steam Engine and he formed
the basis for his work on and invention of the Diesel engine.
He received a patent for his heat oil engine, now called the diesel engine, in 1892, and powered up the first working diesel engine - fueled by peanut oil - on 10 August 1893. After working out some problems with the design, he introduced a 25-horsepower engine in 1897, which gained widespread use after being displayed in the Munich Exhibition of 1898.
Rudolf Diesel obtained patents for his design in Germany and other countries, including USA. Later he sold his American rights to his invention.
The diesel engine was adapted for use in automobiles, marine engines, trains, electric power generation, factories, farm machinery, mining, and oil drilling apparatus. In addition to his engineering work, Diesel warned of the dangers of air pollution, and wrote a book on the human condition.
While crossing the English Channel on the steamer Dresden on 29 September 1913, Diesel vanished. His coat was found, neatly folded, on the ship's deck. His body was found floating at sea more than a week later by fishermen. They gathered some personal things from Diesel's pockets, items later identified by his son.
Numerous competing theories sprang up after his death, maintaining that Diesel had fallen or been pushed overboard, possibly by French spies who did not want Diesel's engines to power German submarines. Given his financial troubles at the time, however, as well as a prior nervous breakdown suicide is the most likely possibility. Evidence is limited for all explanations.
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III. Make the statements below T (true) or F (false):
1. R. Diesel spent his early life in Germany, as a result of the outbreak of the
Franco-Prussian War in 1870, his family moved to France.
2. R. Diesel a 12-year-old boy was sent to his relatives in Germany to study.
3. Rudolf was very bad at studying in Germany.
4. His parents wanted him to continue his education in Germany.
5. R. Diesel was unable to graduate with his class in 1879.
6. In Paris he assisted his former professor Carl van Linde with the design and construction of a modern refrigerator and ice plant.
7. R. Diesel lived in Paris and never moved to Germany.
8. The engine invented by R. Diesel is named after him.
9. There is a lot of evidence that R. Diesel's disappearance was a case of suicide.
10. The diesel engine was adapted for use only in automobiles.
IV. Explain the words in bold. Use them in sentences of your own to illustrate their meanings:
immigrant, manufacturer, fluent in..., scholarship, gain, numerous, engine, patent, vanish, identify, evidence.
V. a) Fill in: bookbinder, health, at the top, rights, fluent, outbreak, basic, steam, identify
. by trade . German . of his class ... engine . personal items . of war . problems . education . to his invention
b) Make sentences based on the text, using the phrases of point a).
VI. Put the sentences in the right order according to the text:
1. The diesel engine was adapted for use in automobiles.
2. His parents were Bavarian immigrants living in Paris.
3. Diesel moved to Berlin in 1890 with his wife and 3 children.
4. At age 14 Rudolf stated that he wanted to become an engineer.
5. His personal items were identified by his son.
6. Diesel graduated in 1880 with the highest academic honours and returned to Paris.
Keys: II.
Name Born
Birthplace Occupation Nationality Died
Location of death Known for
Rudolf Diesel 18 March, 1858 Paris, France Engineer, Inventor German
30 September, 1913 English Channel Inventing the Diesel engine
III. 1 F, 2 T, 3 F, 4 F, 5 T, 6 T, 7 F, 8 T, 9 F, 10 F
IV.
immigrant - someone who enters another country to live there permanently
manufacturer - a person or a company that makes goods
fluent in German - able to speak a language very well
scholarship - an amount of money that is given to someone by an educational organization to help pay for their education
gain - to achieve something you want or need
numerous - many
engine - the part of a vehicle that produces power to make it move
patent - a special document that gives you the right to make or sell a new invention or product that no one else is allowed to copy vanish - to disappear suddenly, especially in a way that cannot be easily explained
identify - to recognize and correctly name someone or something
evidence - facts or signs that show clearly that something exists or is true
V.
Bookbinder by trade; fluent German; at the top of his class; steam engine; identify personal items; outbreak of war; health problems; basic education; rights to his invention; nervous breakdown.
VI. 2, 4, 6,3, 1, 5.
Г.А. Захарова
Сведения об авторе: Захарова Галина Андреевна, учитель английского языка, ГБОУ СОШ № 1264 с углубленным изучением английского языка, Москва. E-mail: galinatores@mail.ru Ключевые слова: Rudolf Diesel, engineer, inventor, the diesel engine.
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