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Introduction
| Highpoints | Medicine TravelTravel became unimaginably faster and more convenient. In 1900, there were about 9,000 cars on the road. Just 60 years later, there were 95 million, virtually all powered by petrol-driven internal combustion engines that were faster, lighter and more powerful than previous steam engines. These new engines transformed air and sea travel, dramatically shaping the course of the 20th century. New mobility Cars gave owners the freedom of convenient travel. With their new mobility, they could live further away from their workplaces and travel longer distances for leisure and business. A new method of manufacturing – mass production – revolutionised the development of the car. Mass-produced cars, such as the famous Model T Ford (1908-1930s) and the Volkswagen Beetle (1936-1980s), were increasingly affordable. Improved roads and specially built motorways helped mobility. Public transport also improved. Railways thrived in the early years of the 20th century, while efficient trams and motor-buses on city streets put horse-drawn vehicles out of business. In the 1960s and 1970s, high-speed trains were developed in Continental Europe and Japan. Leisure activities such as motor racing helped car makers test the reliability of their vehicles. Trams, trains and ocean liners After 1900, petroleum oil began replacing coal as transport's main energy source. Oil wells were first sunk in the US and later in Russia, the Middle East and other parts of the world. Electric-powered public transport saved the fast-growing cities of the early 20th century from chaos. Electric trams and trains, taking power from overhead cables or ground rails, had good acceleration and could stop quickly. Electricity appeared to be efficient and pollution-free, but dirty fuels such as coal and oil still had to be burned in power stations to generate it. For ships, the diesel engine – a type of internal combustion engine – powered smaller vessels, while bigger ones were driven by steam turbines. As sailing ships were superseded, in the 1930s ocean liners grew in comfort, speed and size, carrying hundreds of wealthy travellers in conditions of grandeur and elegance. Airships At first, commercial air travel mainly comprised airships, the hydrogen stored in their light structures enabling them to float. Up to 200 metres (650 feet) in length and powered by internal combustion engines, they carried passengers long distances. From 1900 to 1938, more than 150 of them were built, some used as bombers during World War I. As hydrogen is highly flammable, a number of airships were lost in fires – most importantly, the German Hindenburg in 1937 – which led to their replacement by safer aeroplanes. Thousands of aircraft were produced after the outbreak of World War I
in 1914. Many were reconnaissance fighters; others had machine guns fitted.
The ability to fly had other advantages – Australia's Royal Flying
Doctor Service was established in 1928 through the combined technologies
of the light aeroplane and the two-way radio.
Commercial air travel The developments of aeroplane design gave a stimulus to air travel between the wars, but the first non-stop Atlantic crossing did not occur until 1939. Mass air travel only really became feasible after World War II, which stimulated the development of jet propulsion. The British Comet had its maiden flight in 1949, and went into commercial service three years later. But a series of crashes led to the withdrawal of most of the aircraft, opening up a window of opportunity to the Americans, who came to dominate commercial air travel. The postwar economic boom resulted in carriers such as the Boeing 747, the original jumbo jet. |
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