There’s not a farmer alive who doesn’t know what diesel fuel or a diesel engine is, but there are likely rather few who know that both are named after their inventor, Rudolf Diesel. Fewer still likely know that in 1913, on an overnight ferry passage from Belgium to Great Britain, Diesel went missing, leaving only his hat and coat on the deck.
At the time of his death, Diesel was on his way to England to continue work on expanding the submarine fleet, powered by his engines. He was an inventor, businessman, and about as famous as, say, Elon Musk might be today.
What actually happened to Diesel on that overnight trip has been entered in to the history books as possibly a suicide — but could it have been murder?
That’s the theory Douglas Brunt explores in his book, “The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I.”
The world was changing quickly and marching towards war, and Diesel’s invention and expertise was sought after, Brunt says, and there’s so much that was happening at the time of his disappearance that requires more careful analysis than saying he jumped off a boat.
Hear Brunt and and Shaun Haney discuss this book, the story, and the importance of Rudolf Diesel in this episode of the RealAg Bookclub:
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | All Podcasts
