Figure 1. Sensitivity of life-cycle cost analysis to gasoline prices.

Sadi Carnot, French physicist and engineer, was born in Paris during the French Revolution. He was the eldest son of Lazare Carnot, a military engineer known for writings on mathematics, mechanics, military strategy and politics. Lazare was a major government official under the First Republic that had begun in 1789, and often was described as the "Organizer of Victory" for his training and equipping of the raw recruits called to arms to defend France. Lazare had a great interest in the theory and building of machines of all kinds, an interest he passed on to his son.

Sadi Carnot's early education in mathematics, physics, languages and music was provided at home by his father. In 1812 he entered the prestigious Ecole Polytechnique, a college intended mainly for future military...