Ford's first attempt at a genuine four-wheel vehicle, which he called the Quadricycle, used valves adapted from a steam engine and didn't have a reverse gear.

WSJ: Book Review: I Invented the Modern Age | Henry Ford

Surgeons liken it to putting a tractor-trailer into reverse gear and swerving flawlessly through a wicked S-curve.

FORBES: Robo-docs

The basic gear order must be Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, and a low gear, usually designated with an L. The movement to Drive from Neutral must be a clockwise motion on a column mounted shifter.

WSJ: Changing Gears: Auto Makers Ditch Familiar Shift Levers

British politicians like to boast "they have no reverse gear", but in Brazil, going backwards is a destination in its own right.

BBC: Brazil: No reverso

Some of this territory was covered by Mr. Crowley and internist Henry S. Lodge in their previous two "Younger Next Year" books, which focused on exercise as an elixir of youth that can reverse aging processes inside cells and spawned a website, DVDs, workout gear and Aspen retreats.

WSJ: Healthy Reader: 'Thinner This Year,' by Chris Crowley and Jen Sacheck