caption death_place image_size nationality fields workplaces signature residence image article_title name
portrait of james watt -lrb- 1736 -- 1819 -rrb- handsworth , birmingham , england 220px scottish mechanical engineer university of glasgow later deist james watt signature.svg glasgow , scotland , then handsworth , england watt james von breda.jpg james watt
 james watt
james watt

james watt , frs , frse -lrb- 30 january 1736 -lrb- 19 january 1736 os -rrb- -- 25 august 1819 -rrb- was a scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose watt steam engine , an improvement of the newcomen steam engine , was fundamental to the changes brought by the industrial revolution in both his native great britain and the rest of the world .
while working as an instrument maker at the university of glasgow , watt became interested in the technology of steam engines .
he realised 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 attempted to commercialise his invention , but experienced great financial difficulties until he entered a partnership with matthew boulton in 1775 .
the new firm of boulton and watt was eventually highly successful and watt became a wealthy man .
in his retirement , watt continued to develop new inventions though none was as significant as his steam engine work .
he died in 1819 at the age of 83 .
he developed the concept of horsepower , and the si unit of power , the watt , was named after him .
