One of the Greatest Inventors of Our Time Disappeared. This New Book Explores Why.
Douglas Brunt on writing “The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel”
Imagine the shock if an inventor and businessman who had the ears of countless world leaders and military commanders suddenly went missing. That’s not a rhetorical question, by the way — in 1913, while in the midst of a sea voyage, inventor Rudolf Diesel vanished while en route to London.
In the hundred-plus years since Diesel’s disappearance, there’s been a lot of speculation about what might have happened to him— and whether his disappearance was the result of foul play, a terrible accident or something entirely different. In his new book The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I, Douglas Brunt explores Diesel’s life and impact on the world and offers an intriguing solution to the mystery that surrounded Diesel’s exit from the world stage.
InsideHook spoke with Brunt about Diesel’s life and legacy, the unlikely directions his research went in and the early days of electric cars.