Next time you have the opportunity, examine what the
components of a
4-stroke internal combustion engine look like.
It's beautiful. The cams, their elegant oblong shape machined to tolerances of thousandths of an inch.
The valves, shaped like the bell of some magnificent musical instrument. Indeed they are virtuosic. Their motion, from the gentle rotation of those sensually-shaped cams, has a romantic quality to it.
The piston itself, looking somehow forlorn outside of the cylinder, its sealing rings protruding awkwardly from the side, still has a kind of grandeur to it; "Yes, I make this machine move!" it boldly proclaims. In contrast to the gentle, precise curves of the valvegear, the piston head is scarred with the carbon from millions of explosions.
The cylinder wall, solid and noble, stoic even in the face of those same explosions.
Lower still, the crankshaft, somehow exuding a working-class attitude. "While y'all up there are screwin' around with hydrocarbon vapors, I'm down here doin' all the work!" the crank yells. It's right, of course.
Beautiful, isn't it?