STEM STORIES Automobiles FROM HENRY FORD TO ELON MUSK Kelly Doudna checkerboard library an imprint of abdo publishing abdopublishing.com
The Road Most Traveled Are you looking forward to getting your driver’s license Do you dream about the kind of car you want to own someday Maybe you want to design and build the cars of the future Throughout history people have desired to travel the world First there were carts and wagons pulled by animals Then came steam-powered trains But the automobile changed travel forever Cars let people travel quickly nearly anywhere they wanted to go People no longer had to depend on train schedules or follow train tracks Eventually anyone could learn to drive a car and most people could afford to own one
Automobile development started in the 1400s But cars would not be practical until the late 1800s and early 1900s That is when Henry Ford and others made important advancements Improvements have continued to the present day thanks to the automobile industry and entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk Cars have never been safer and easier to operate than they are now And self-driving cars are just around the corner Who knows where automobile technology will take us next In 2016 17.5 million cars were sold in the United States This was more cars than any other year before
