A BRIEF HISTORY OF MOTION From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next

Liam Gerrard revs up for a fast-moving narration to take listeners on Tom Standage's tour of automobiles and their place in our lives. Gerrard becomes impassioned as he recounts the hostile sentiments that people felt toward early motorists. He puts a salesman's enthusiasm into the story of how Henry Ford's Model T expanded car ownership. As Standage peers into the future, Gerrard is filled with wonder at the promise of self-driving cars, then switches gears as Standage discusses their dangers, including the possibility that they could supply totalitarians with drivers' personal information. The push for electric cars includes the reminder that gas-powered cars were initially seen as a solution for problems created by horses in cities. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2021]