All Nicolaus Otto wanted to do was make enough money to marry his wife, settle down and begin a career. He was 26 and a seemingly happy young man who was content to sell sugar, rice, coffee or tea ...

Even today, in a time when electric power is beginning to take a major hold, internal combustion engines (ICE) are the driving forces of our world. They probably won't be that for long, though, so ...

Volkswagen isn't reinventing the way your internal combustion engine works. The automaker has, however, created a new twist on the Otto cycle that's a revised version of the Atkinson cycle. Your ...

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in ...

There are three fathers of invention when it comes to nearly every car on the road today: Otto, Diesel, and Atkinson. They all had one thing in common—a drive to improve the efficiency of the engines ...