Room at the piston top contributions of combustion science to engine design

Charles F. Kettering, “Boss Ket,” the founder of the General Motors Research Laboratories, once said: “It's so simple to explain [the automobile engine] by saying, you take a charge of gasoline and air into the cylinder, compress it and ignite it with a spark, and it explodes and pushes the piston down, and that makes your car go … If you stop right there, it is a logical explanation. But what does the spark do? What do you mean by combustion? We don't know why or how the spark sets off that explosion of gas … So I say, quite solemnly, that we haven't the slightest idea what really makes the contraption run. We call the reaction ‘combustion’ because it nicely conceals our lack of knowledge on just what takes place in the engine cylinder. I just don't think we can live in this atmosphere of ignorance about what goes on there when our whole business depends on it” [1].