an automobile, the further development and mass production of the invention never truly began until the late nineteenth century. In 1824, the French physicist Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot scientifically established the thermodynamic theory of idealized heat engines. This highlighted the shortcoming of these pioneering designs, whereby they needed a compression mechanism to increase the difference between the upper and lower working temperatures and potentially unlock sufficient power and efficiency. Gasoline was not used for internal combustion engines until 1870 when carburetors were invented to convert non-combustible liquid fuels into a combustible gaseous mixture form. See also De Rivaz engine Timeline of transportation technology Timeline of hydrogen technologies History of the internal combustion engine Pyréolophore Nicéphore Niépce References External links 1807 Francois Isaac de Rivaz - internal combustion engine 1752 births 1828 deaths People associated with the internal combustion engine 19th-century Swiss inventors Engineers from Paris 19th-century Swiss engineers 19th-century Swiss politicians