After patenting an amazing and revolutionary contraption, he narrowly escaped death when it blew to pieces in his shop a year later.
That was more than 100 years ago and the invention - the diesel engine - was about to change the world, even if Paris-born Rudolf Diesel was unwilling to change with it.
Diesel was a complicated and emotional man, and seriously talented. His invention's simplicity and durability made it the undisputed standard for industrial power. By 1898, his engines were everywhere, from factories to electric powerplants. Diesel was the king ... at least for a while.
Strangely and stubbornly, he wouldn't listen to suggestions for improvements. He thought that his creation, given patent 608,845, was perfect. End of story.
So, others went ahead and changed it without him.
The ridicule and criticism was too much to bear and Diesel, out of control of his own machine, flung himself over the railing of an English Channel steamer.
But that was an entire lifetime ago, a lifetime that few people today even know about, and the invention's origins, like so many others, completely taken for granted.
Today's geniuses stand on the shoulders of yesterday's geniuses to improve, invent and reinvent. Rightly or wrongly, we call it progress.
Whether Mr. Diesel would have begrudgingly approved is irrelevant, because progress is the reason his invention is slowly creeping its way into North American vehicles.
The reasons it has taken so long are few but significant. With gasoline prices here still low when compared to other parts of the world, such as Europe, there has been very little demand for more efficient diesel power in the North American private sector.
Second, diesels have the reputation of being underpowered, smoggy, noisy and smelly ... and they were.
Third, diesel engines are sold at a premium here, which means justifying the extra expense through fuel savings.
If fuel is cheap, it's less of a factor in the vehicle purchased.
So, what's changing? With the price of gas going up - a lot - diesel's efficiency looks pretty darned good, especially when weighed against the fact that diesel engines generally provide better fuel economy than gasoline engines of similar displacement.
For example, the Wheelbase Media editors are road-testing the new Chevy Cruze Diesel and are reporting nearly 70 mpg on the highway. Rudolf Diesel was definitely onto something. The Cruze is groundbreaking because it's the first modern Chevrolet passenger car to be fitted with a diesel.
Even the light trucks, which could benefit most from a diesel option, are gas only.
Diesel passenger cars are in the works from Mazda and others, too.
Perhaps most important to diesel's acceptance is a new breed of diesel engine with superior electronics (engine-management software) that not only runs quieter and pollutes much less, but offers more kick than a gasoline engine.
Thanks to turbocharging - forcing additional air and fuel into the engine - the performance gap has significantly closed to the point where diesel's advantages are pretty obvious.
Diesel engines don't use spark. Piston travel comes from the fuel mixture exploding under pressure and not via an electronically induced spark as is the case with a gasoline engine.
Diesel's simplicity translates into durability and toughness.
The proof is in the millions of kilometres longhaul trucks log every year. Just as it was in Rudolf's day, progress isn't accidental. Tightening emissions regulations everywhere have forced diesels to clean up.
In fact, the new generation of higher-quality (cleaner) diesel fuel is a big part of diesel's coming of age.
And if you doubt the power and speed, you only need to look to the European brands that have been offering high-performance diesel engines in their cars for years.
The Audi A5 comes to mind.
Look at the news and you'll find that a lot of attention is being paid to expensive new technologies such as hydrogen fuel-cell power - which uses hydrogen to generate electricity - and hybrid systems - gas engines aided by electric motor - but a new generation of diesel should raise a few eyebrows, especially if someone develops a diesel-electric hybrid.
All that's required of us is to accept change. Ignoring it was Rudolf Diesel's undoing.
It needn't be ours.
