????10. 蒸汽

????1899年到1905年間，斯坦利蒸汽汽車（見上圖）在美國的銷量超過了所有汽油車。蒸汽機從18世紀早期就開始開發了，與之相比，當時的汽油引擎還只能算是個嬰兒。但當內燃機裝上自動啟動裝置后它們就迅速迎頭趕上了，而蒸汽機由于必須攜帶沉重的鍋爐則注定了要被淘汰。不過，由于蒸汽汽車能用垃圾、木柴和原油當燃料，它們還是引起了人們的關注——1969年通用汽車就推出過兩款試驗車型——但它們效率較低，也十分沉重。2009年，一輛現代蒸汽汽車以130英里的時速打破了斯坦利蒸汽汽車1906年創造的速度記錄，但它重達三噸多，內部的蒸汽管道足有兩英里多長。（財富中文網）

????譯者：清遠

????10. Steam

????Between 1899 and 1905, the Stanley Steamer (above) outsold all gasoline-powered cars in the U.S. Steam engines had been in development since the early 18th century; gasoline was a baby by comparison. But internal combustion engines caught up quickly after they got self-starters, and steamers were doomed by having to carry around heavy boilers. Steam-powered vehicles still get attention because they can burn fuel like garbage, wood, and crude oil -- General Motors introduced two experimental ones in 1969 -- but they are relatively inefficient and very weighty. In 2009, a modern steam car broke the speed record set by a Stanley Steamer in 1906 when it exceeded 130 miles per hour, but it weighed more than three tons and contained more than two miles of steam tubing.