{James Watt

By Pedro Gil

Steam engines used to pump water out of mines in England existed when James Watt was born. The discovery that steam could be harnessed and made to work is not credited to James Watt. We do not know exactly who made that discovery, but we do know that the ancient Greeks had crude steam engines. James Watt, however, is credited with inventing the first practical engine. And so the history of the "modern" steam engine often begins with James Watt.

Born: January 19, 1736 Died: August 25, 1819 Education: University of Glasgow Nationality: Scottish, British Parents: Agnes Muirhead, James Watt

Basic Information on James Watt

James Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomer steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world. 

Who was James Watt

James Watt came up with the idea of the separate condenser. In his journal the inventor wrote that the idea came to him on a Sunday afternoon in 1765, as he walked across the Glasgow Green. If the steam was condensed in a separate vessel from the cylinder, it would be quite possible to keep the condensing vessel cool and the cylinder hot at the same time. The next morning Watt built a prototype and found that it worked. He added other improvements and built his now famous improved steam engine.

 

The Separate Condenser

While working as an instrument maker at the University of Glasgow, Watt became interested in the technology of steam engines. He realized that contemporary engine designs wasted a great deal of energy by repeatedly cooling and re-heating the cylinder. Watt introduced a design enhancement, the separate condenser, which avoided this waste of energy and radically improved the power, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of steam engines. Eventually he adapted his engine to produce rotary motion, greatly broadening its use beyond pumping water.

 

The Steam Engine

The End

Steam meant that factories could be built anywhere, not just along fast-flowing rivers.

Those factories benefited from one of the world's greatest partnerships — that of Watt and Matthew Boulton, a British manufacturer.

Transportation was one of those important beneficiaries. For the first time in history, goods were transported over land by something other than the muscle of man or animal.

How it Effected the World