James Watt (1736 - 1819)

Watt was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer and a chemist. He became interested in the technology of steam engines. He realized that contemporary engine designs wasted a great deal of energy by repeatedly cooling and reheating 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.

Watt also made other important discoveries and inventions. These included a copying machine and an improved production method for chlorine, a bleaching agent.
After his fortune enabled him to retire, he pursued a wide variety of interests from improving oil lamps to measuring distances with a telescope.

Boulton, Watt and Murdoch is a statue on Broad Street in Birmingham, nicknamed 'The Golden Boys'. Built in 1956. The three men pioneered the industrial revolution in late 18th century England. In 1774, Watt started a business in Birmingham with investor Matthew Boulton to manufacture his improved steam engine.The Boulton & Watt Company produced steam engines that could be used anywhere, and demand for them was high. Watt and Boulton became leading figures in the Industrial Revolution.Watt continued to make improvements to steam engines, and patented other important inventions, such as the rotary engine and a steam locomotive.His achievements were recognised by fellow scientists. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Society of London, and became a Foreign Associate of the French Academy of Sciences.

What does the Watt steam engine do?

Why was the Watt steam engine important?

jhella wrote:What does the Watt steam engine do?

The Watt steam engine alternatively known as the Boulton and Watt steam engine was the first type of steam engine to make use of a separate condenser. It was a vacuum or "atmospheric" engine using steam at a pressure just above atmospheric to create a partial vacuum beneath the piston.

jhella wrote:Why was the Watt steam engine important?

Steam power is one of the most important and key aspects of the Industrial Revolution. The invention of the steam engine created many changes and additions to the technology of the time, including steam powered locomotives. Steam locomotives are vehicles that run on rails or tracks and are powered by steam engines.

James Watt once said this, I'm sure that this is a positive thing for him that made him achieve what he achieved, but I don't think that it held other aspects different from his'

jhella wrote:What does the Watt steam engine do?

Waaaaaaaaaattt???? Just kidding, It creates a partial vacuum beneath the piston

DRAVEN wrote:James Watt once said this, I'm sure that this is a positive thing for him that made him achieve what he achieved, but I don't think that it held other aspects different from his'

The quotation in the headline is widely attributed to James Watt. The ultimate source of the quotation was Austin Miles, who wrote that Watt said it an some point on a PTL Club broadcast (Update: actually it was a different quotation that Miles claimed from the PTL Club--this one I think Hellena Handbasket pegged as a Miles paraphrase).

Copying Press invented by James Watt. James Watt invented this document copier to relieve him of the tedium of making copies of his plans and drawings. In 1779 he began experimenting with a device with multiple pens linked by rods but the machine was cumbersome and getting the pressure right on all the pens at the same time was difficult, so James looked at the problem from a different perspective. Having experimented with different (un-sized) papers and various inks mixed with gum arabic he came up with the idea of pressing the original page against a thin tissue-paper so that surplus ink could be offset onto the duplicate sheet. Turn the tissue paper over and the writing would be the correct way round. The invention had the advantage that it produced an exact copy – and could be used for drawings just as effectively as lettering. Various refinements were made to the idea before Watt registered his patent in 1780. Moistening the tissue paper was central to the scheme, and the rollers or screw press (he experimented with both) had to apply an even pressure. The ink had to be slow-drying but he ended up with a system which could copy an unblotted page of inked paper for several hours after it had been written.Watt was already in partnership with Matthew Boulton so it was natural that he should again go into partnership with the industrialist to develop the copier, bringing in James Keir to manage the business. It was known as James Watt & Co and by the end of a full year’s trading 630 copies had been sold. For the next hundred years or so the machine (and its numerous imitations) became popular everywhere.

James Watt died in Birmingham in August 1819 aged 83 and is buried in a plot next to that of his business partner Matthew Boulton. He was a towering figure of his Age of any Age. He was a brilliant engineer, chemist, philosopher, astronomer, and instrument maker. His statue, now in St Pauls Cathedral, bears an inscription which says it all: “JAMES WATT ENLARGED THE RESOURCES OF HIS COUNTRY, INCREASED THE POWER OF MAN, AND ROSE TO AN EMINENT PLACE AMONG THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS FOLLOWERS OF SCIENCE AND THE REAL BENEFACTORS OF THE WORLD.”

This medal was minted in London in 1827 as one of a series celebrating great men. Watt is also celebrated by several statues and paintings, a university and a library, a shipping dock, at least two engineering awards, an Austrian coin and a (yet to be released) British banknote. There are streets named after Watt in Birmingham (England), Glasgow (Scotland), Newcastle (NSW), Spotswood (Victoria) and no doubt in many other cities.His name is also commemorated in the SI unit of power. Unfortunately, having a special name for the unit of power (the rate of supplying or using energy) leads some people to confuse the concepts of energy and power.

What was the Watt steam engine used for?

What was the impact of the steam engine?

What year did James Watt invent the steam engine?

The development of an efficient steam engine transformed industry and society. It helped Great Britain become the world’s first industrialised society leading to an unprecedented pace of economic growth.

Watt also made other important discoveries and inventions. These included a copying machine and an improved production method for chlorine, a bleaching agent.

In 1763, aged 27, Watt came into contact with a working steam engine, the Newcomen engine. Professor John Anderson, who demonstrated the engine in his physics classes, needed it repaired. Watt did the repair, but was astonished at how little work the engine was capable of.

In Watt’s own words, slightly modernized:

The idea came into my mind that as steam was a gas it would rush into a vacuum, and if I linked the engine’s cylinder to a vessel at low pressure, the steam would rush into it. The steam would condense there and it wouldn’t cool the engine-cylinder. I then saw that I must get rid of the condensed steam from the cylinder.