history of behavioral sciences. he holds a ph.d. in history from the university of michigan where he also taught in the college of engineering. dan also served as the curator of vehicle collections at the national museum of science and industry in london. he is the author of are we there yet, the american automobile past, present and driverless it s available for sale and signing at the conclusion of the program. so, please, without further adieu join me in welcoming him this evening. [ applause ] thank you so much. that was really lovely. thank you, amanda. really generous and sweet introduction. i thanked everybody for being here otherwise i would be up here by myself. i especially, you know, amanda has told me that smithsonian associates people have reminded me how engaged these audiences are that come for these events so i feel like i have to be kind of up on my toes and really give you my a game to take this seriously and to be a little intellectual, be a little heav
of vehicle collections at the national museum of science and industry in london. he is the author of are we there yet, the american automobile past, present and driverless it s available for sale and signing at the conclusion of the program. so, please, without further adieu join me in welcoming him this evening. [ applause ] thank you so much. that was really lovely. thank you, amanda. really generous and sweet introduction. i thanked everybody for being here otherwise i would be up here by myself. i especially, you know, amanda has told me that smithsonian associates people have reminded me how engaged these audiences are that come for these events so i feel like i have to be kind of up on my toes and really give you my a game to take this seriously and to be a little intellectual, be a little heavy, if you will, talking about the past, present and future of the automobile. there s a lot of material in the book, look at that, it s right there. everything from teaching m
dan has spent a career writing and teaching about the history and culture of technology. his articles can be found in n plus one magazine, popular science and the journal for the history of behavioral sciences. he holds a ph.d. in history from the university of michigan where he also taught in the college of engineering. dan also served as the curator of vehicle collections at the national museum of science and industry in london. he is the author of are we there yet, the american automobile past, present and driverless it s available for sale and signing at the conclusion of the program. so, please, without further adieu join me in welcoming him this evening. [ applause ] thank you so much. that was really lovely. thank you, amanda. really generous and sweet introduction. i thanked everybody for being here otherwise i would be up here by myself. i especially, you know, amanda has told me that smithsonian associates people have reminded me how engaged these audiences are
drive. story atbecame the that point in their lives. susan: how did the idea come to you for telling the story at this time? jeff: when i try to do when i write nonfiction books is to go everywhere where the people i write about went. i always use my car. i d rather drive and that way you really get a sense of place. somewhere along the line in the 30,000 or so miles i drive every year i started wondering how we got to be a country, a culture where we take for granted and we can get in a car and go anywhere we want to. i thought it would be a good idea to write a book about that and as always happens when you look into history, there s more to it than you ever expected. susan: your book begins and ends with someone that s a minor character, jeff bixby. who was he and why was he interesting to you? jeff: one of the things that struck me as i researched the book was the vagabonds and edison and whoever may be with him on that trip could literally change the lives of anyone they
susan: we want to listen to just a little bit of jeff bixby s music so people can get a sense of what interested ford and edison. susan: just a little bit of the music. would a lot of americans be listening to music of this type of this era? i would rather drive you get a sense of place. somewhere along the line in the 30,000 or so miles i drive every year i started wondering how we got to be a country, a culture where we take for granted we can go anywhere we want to. since i didn t know i thought it would be a good idea to write a book about that. your book begins and ends with a somewhat minor character. who was he and why was he interesting to you? jeff was an elderly country fiddler working out of michigan playing barn dances and so forth, and that was pretty much the height of his musical career. he was listed in local archives as a shoe maker. henry ford had heard about his sic and unexpectedly in 1923 his wife opens their door in this little tiny isolated town and t