History of Science and Engineering Annotation << Back THE FORMATION OF THE THEORY AND DESIGN FEATURES OF PISTON INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES A.F. Smyk, A.A. Spiridonov The problems of the prehistory and history of the piston internal combustion engines and the formation of the theory of thermal design of these machines considered during the second half of the XVII century and the beginning of the twentieth century; highlighted the main periods in the history of the piston engines. Presented by the contribution of European and Russian engineers – inventors whose work laid the foundations of the modern piston engine building. Keywords: piston internal combustion engine; Jean Lenoir; N.A. Otto; B.G. Loutzky; G. Daymler; E.A. Yakovlev; R. Diesel; G.V. Trinkler; V.I. Grinevetsky. Contacts: E-mail: afsmyk@mail.ru Pp. 017-031.