BBC - History - James Watt z James Watt, c.1788 © Watt was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, renowned for his improvements in steam engine technology. James Watt was born in Greenock on 18 January 1736. His father was a prosperous shipwright. Watt initially worked as a maker of mathematical instruments, but soon became interested in steam engines. The first working steam engine had been patented in 1698 and by the time of Watt's birth, Newcomen engines were pumping water from mines all over the country. In around 1764, Watt was given a model Newcomen engine to repair. He realised that it was hopelessly inefficient and began to work to improve the design. He designed a separate condensing chamber for the steam engine that prevented enormous losses of steam. His first patent in 1769 covered this device and other improvements on Newcomen's engine. Watt's partner and backer was the inventor John Roebuck. In 1775, Roebuck's interest was taken over by Matthew Boulton who owned an engineering works in Birmingham. Together he and Watt began to manufacture steam engines.

Boulton & Watt became the most important engineering firm in the country, meeting considerable demand. Initially this came from Cornish mine owners, but extended to paper, flour, cotton and iron mills, as well as distilleries, canals and waterworks. In 1785, Watt and Boulton were elected fellows of the Royal Society. By 1790, Watt was a wealthy man and in 1800 he retired and devoted himself entirely to research work. He patented several other important inventions including the rotary engine, the double-action engine and the steam indicator, which records the steam pressure inside the engine. Watt died on 19 August 1819. A unit of measurement of electrical and mechanical power - the watt - is named in his honour. Watt Biography a Summary by Carl Lira A Desire to Make Instruments James Watt was born in 1736 in Greenock, Scotland. James was a thin, weakly child who suffered from migraines and toothaches. He enjoyed mathematics in grammar school, and also learned carpentry from his father. His father was a carpenter by training, and built anything from furniture to ships, but primarily worked in shipbuilding.

Watt learned about the navigational aids on ships: quadrants, compasses, telescopes. By his midteens he knew he wanted to become an instrument maker. Watt's father had just lost a substantial investment due to a shipwreck, and he could see the benefits of another occupation, so was supportive of Watt's ambitions. Unfortunately, there were no opportunities for instrument training in Greenock. In 1754 Watt went to Glasgow, Scotland and became acquainted with Robert Dick through a relative who worked at the University of Glasgow. Robert Dick, a University scientist, was impressed with Watt's basic skills at instrument making, but recognized the need for special training. Dick encouraged Watt to go to London for training. Watt spent two weeks in London looking for an apprenticeship opportunity. However the instrument makers protected their trade by rules of a body known as the Worshipful Company of Clock-makers. The only employment was for fully-trained instrument makers or trainees serving seven-year apprenticeships! John Morgan, an instrument maker in the heart of London, did not always follow the rules, and agreed to take Watt as an apprentice on the conditions of little pay!

Morgan recognized the capabilities of Watt, and agreed to shorten the apprenticeship to a period of one year. Watt took the offer in 1755. Within two months, Watt's abilities surpassed those of Morgan's official apprentice, who had been there two years. Watt was eager to cram several years of training into one, and worked 10 hour days in the cold workshop. After hours, he worked for a small amount of cash, and his father sent him a little, but he maintained long hours on little food, and his health declined. During this time, Britain was at war with France, and the military would force into service any able-bodied man. Watt avoided the streets for this reason, which may have affected his health further. Watt finished his apprenticeship year successfully, but his health collapsed almost immediately afterwards. Watt returned to Glasgow in 1756, now a trained instrument maker. His University of Glasgow acquaintances learned of his return, and gave him some work. Watt set up his shop, but found that other instrument makers shunned his credentials and training. He was an outsider in Glasgow, after being trained in London.

The University professors recognized his abilities, and did not need to abide by the traditions of the instrument makers. They arranged for permission to set up a shop for Watt on University grounds and created the position "Mathematical Instrument Maker to the University". Even with the new position, Watt still had trouble finding enough work since the other instrument makers were somewhat hostile. He started making musical instruments to avoid competition. His musical instruments were improvements over existing models and business began to grow. In 1758, an architect gave him backing to open a new shop in the heart of Glasgow. His business and reputation grew steadily and by 1763 he had apprentices of his own, but he was not out of debt. The job that changed history Watt always had work from the University scientists, so he maintained through the years his shop on the University property. Professor John Anderson was the older brother of a grammar school companion, Andrew. One day in 1763, Professor John Anderson brought Watt a new problem. The University had a lab-scale model of the Newcomen pump to investigate why the full-scale pumps required so much steam. The model suffered a problem. It would stall after a few strokes.

Watt recognized that the flaw was due to an undersized boiler that couldn't provide enough steam to reheat the cylinder after a few strokes. (See Newcomen pump details ). During troubleshooting of the lab-scale model, Watt discovered the main reason the full-sized engines consumed such vast quantities of steam. However, implementation of the solution did not come easily. The Newcomen pumps required such vast quantities of steam since they were cooled during every stroke, then reheated. Watt needed a way to condense the steam without cooling the cylinder. Watt turned over the problem in his head for months and performed many experiments. He learned much about steam properties, and independently discovered latent heat of vaporization in his experiments. He also tabulated the vapor pressure of water at various temperatures before the work of Clapeyron. One of his University friends was Professor Black, who had discovered latent heat previously and had been lecturing on it without Watt's knowledge. They shared many interesting conversations after Watt told Professor Black of his "discovery". The concept for the breakthrough to improve the Newcomen engine came in May of 1765, over two years after Watt began to study the engine.

Watt later described the moment of inspiration: "I had gone to take a walk on a fine Sabbath afternoon, early in 1765. I had entered the green by the gate at the foot of Charlotte Street and had passed the old washing-house. I was thinking upon the engine at the time, and had gone as far as the herd's house, when the idea came into my mind that as steam was an elastic body it would rush into a vacuum, and if a communication were made between the cylinder and an exhausted vessel it would rush into it, and might be there condensed without cooling the cylinder. I then saw that I must get rid of the condensed steam and injection-water if I used a jet as in Newcomen's engine. Two ways of doing this occurred to me. First, the water might be run off by a descending pipe, if an offlet could be got at the depth of thirty-five or thirty-six feet, and any air might be extracted by a small pump. The second was to make the pump large enough to extract both water and air. . . .

I had not walked farther than the golf-house when the whole thing was arranged in my mind." With a separate condenser, the condensation process could take place constantly and the steam cylinder could be evacuated while remaining hot. The vapor would rush into the condenser where the pressure was approximately equal to the vapor pressure of water. Watt would not work on the Sunday, as was the custom of the day. He controlled his impatience, but first thing Monday morning he was in his shop. He crafted a makeshift piston and condenser using a brass syringe. He filled the syringe with steam. He pumped the air out of his makeshift condenser, and cooled it. It worked! (Read more details on Watt's experiment ). Watt was 29 in 1765 when he discovered his idea would work. Yet it would be 11 years before he saw his invention in practice! He was modest, goodhearted, and shy. He once wrote to his business partner, Boulton, many years later, "I would rather face a loaded cannon than settle a disputed account or make a bargain." He also understood the significance of his development. "I can think of nothing but this engine", he said.

The waiting Watt's University friends introduced him to John Roebuck, a industrialist who held leases on coal deposits. Roebuck agreed to back the development of a full-scale engine after he saw the model work. Watt devoted much time to troubleshooting and developing a full-scale model. Roebuck did not employ machinists with the experience that Watt's project required. Watt himself was a first rate instrument maker, but he was ill-suited to manage the work crew to operate the pump. Over the next four years, Watt was consumed with making an engine work. The experiments were slow and costly. The greatest difficulty was maintaining the seal on the large piston. In the Newcomen engine, the piston and cylinder were made up cast iron, and the fit was of very poor quality. However, since the entire cylinder was to be cooled, the piston was sealed by maintaining water on top of the piston in the open cylinder. Any leakage in the Newcomen engine simply sucked some water into the cylinder without defeating the driving force for the movement. Such a solution was unacceptable with Watt's design where the piston was to be maintained hot.

Although a full-scale working engine was constructed at Roebuck's coal mine, the effort was taxing on energy as well as finances. Andrew Carnegie writes in his biography of Watt: The monster new engine, upon which so much depended, was ready for trial at last in September, 1769. About six months had been spent in its construction. Its success was indifferent. Watt had declared it to be a "clumsy job." The new pipe-condenser did not work well, the cylinder was almost useless, having been badly cast, and the old difficulty in keeping the piston-packing tight remained. Many things were tried for packing-cork, oiled rags, old hats (felt probably), paper, horse dung, etc., etc. Still the steam escaped, even after a thorough overhauling. The second experiment also failed. So great is the gap between the small toy model and the practical work-performing giant, a rock upon which many sanguine theoretical inventors have been wrecked! Had Watt been one of that class, he could never have succeeded. Here we have another proof of the soundness of the contention that Watt, the mechanic, was almost as important as Watt the inventor.

(Carnegie, Andrew James Watt, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, May, 1905.) Roebuck was supportive of Watt and encouraged him to keep working on the pump. Watt was able to get a large engine to work well enough to apply for a patent, and Roebuck financed the engine patent that was granted in 1769. In exchange, Roebuck agreed to pay off all of Watt debts for his instrument shops but would take two-thirds of the money the invention made. Watt found this agreement acceptable because the large experiments were slow and costly. The invention was far from being ready for production. Then, Roebuck did another thing that helped Watt. He indirectly introduced Watt to Matthew Boulton of Birmingham, England. This last introduction was the one that helped the invention create the steam engine revolution -- but the revolution didn't come easily or fast! Boulton recognized that the engine had potential applications for much more than pumping water! Boulton was an industrialist with an extraordinary vision to have all craftsmen work in a common building -- a "manufactory" (later shorted to "factory"). Previously, craftsmen had all maintained individual shops.

Further, Boulton had the desire to furnish the manufactory with the best equipment and finest craftsmen. Boulton was certain that he could sell the engine. Unfortunately, Boulton could not work out a deal with Roebuck who had majority control of the patent. Disheartened and in need of cash himself, Watt left the instrument making business in 1771, and took up surveying. In March 1773, Roebuck was in desperate need of cash. Boulton acquired Roebuck's rights to the engine in 1773, four years after the engine was patented, and nine years after Watt first discovered the separate condenser. Boulton was convinced the problems could be solved. A Perfect Partnership Boulton and Watt's personalities complemented each other and they got along well. Boulton's assembly of accomplished craftsmen provided the much-needed expertise that Watt had lacked in his collaboration with Roebuck. As soon as Watt finished his obligations for surveying, he moved to Birmingham to join Boulton's shop. Watt maintained work on the engine as well as other tasks.

In November, 1774 he wrote to his father, "The business I am here about has turned out rather successful; that is to say, the fire engine I have invented is now going, and answers much better than any other that has yet been made." His letter was a modest statement of his true enthusiasm, for his concepts were developing into a fantastic engine. Boulton's desire to hire the best craftsmen had enabled the success. Success at Last In March 1776 the Bentley Mining Company started their newest piece of equipment, a Boulton-Watt engine. The Bentley Mining Company had taken a substantial risk by abandoning a half-built Newcomen engine and replacing it with the Boulton-Watt engine. The day the engine started a newspaper reporter was present: "From the first Moment of its setting to Work, it made about 14 to 15 Strokes per Minute, and emptied the Engine Pit (which is about 90 Feet deep and stood 57 Feet high in Water) in less than an hour". From "Aris's Birmingham Gazette, March 11, 1776.

(Technical note: water can be drawn by suction less than 33 feet, so the pumps were placed within that distance of the bottom.) This Bentley Mining Company engine used a cylinder crafted by the best ironmaster in Britain, John Wilkinson, who had recently developed a technique for boring cylinders (cannons) and had adopted the technique to the steam cylinder of the Boulton-Watt engine. The valves, piping, and fittings were manufactured at the Soho Manufactory - a factory 2 miles from Birmingham partnered by Boulton and Watt. The new engine used 1/4 of the steam that the Newcomen engines had required! (See Watt Engine ) The new Boulton-Watt engine was a great success. Watt became very busy maintaining business at Cornwall mines and setting up new pumps for the mines in the Cornwall region. More than Pumps Boulton recognized the potential of the device for doing much more than pumping water. He also recognized the limited market for the device to drive pumps. In June 1781 he wrote to Watt: "The people in London, Manchester and Birmingham are steam mill mad.

I don't mean to hurry you, but I think in the course of a month or two, we should determine to take out a patent for certain methods of producing rotative motion There is no other Cornwall to be found, and the most likely line for the consumption of our engines is the application of them to mills which is certainly an extensive field" (Sproule, Ann James Watt, Exley Publications, Herts, UK, 1992) Watt answered this call, too. At age 45, Watt developed his next great invention -- a method to convert reciprocating motion of the piston to rotating motion. The invention was the sun and planet gear system. This invention was better than a crankshaft which was already patented (an idea Watt said was stolen from him). The sun and planet gear system permitted the rotative wheel to turn more than once per stroke of the piston! Since the piston moved slowly, this was an major improvement! An engine patented in 1782 by Boulton and Watt had another major improvement -- the steam cylinder used valves above and below the piston to connect independently to the boiler or the condenser; the piston performed work on both the upward and downward stroke!

This evened out the stroking of the piston, performing equal work on each movement. Watt had another great improvement on this engine. He had devised a mechanism to match the rocking motion of the beam (which traces an arc) with the linear motion of the piston. This was known as the "parallel motion" device, and was necessary to enable the piston to push the beam on the upward stroke; the chains used in the previous single-acting engines didn't transfer work on the upward stroke. He once told his son that this was the invention of which he was most proud.(See Double-acting Engine ) In 1782 a sawmill ordered an engine that was to replace 12 horses. Watt used data from a sawmill to determine that a horse could lift 33,000 pounds the distance of one foot in one minute -- and thus developed the units of hp. Other major contributions developed by Watt include the steam throttling valve and the mechanism to connect the throttle to the engine governor. Used together, these devices regulated steam flow into the piston and kept a constant engine speed. By 1800, 84 British cotton mills used Boulton and Watt engines. So did wool mills and flour mills!

In his later years, Watt enjoyed the success and fame he deserved. Today, it is appropriate to recognize Watt's contributions when we used the British (and American Engineering) units for power, hp, and the SI units for power, the Watt. Author's note: I have found minor variations in the wording of quotes attributed to Watt by the various biographers, but for all the citations given here, the meaning is identical. The wording given here was provided by one of the biographers. Dates in the history of steam engines and James Watt 1698 Thomas Savery patent James Watt Biography James Watt Biography James Watt (January 19, 1736 - August 19, 1819) was a Scottish mathematician and engineer. He was born in Greenock, Scotland, and lived and worked in Birmingham, England. He was a key member of the Lunar Society. Many of his papers are in Birmingham Central Library. Timeline 1736: Born in Greenock, Scotland. 1754: Learnt the trade of mathematical-instrument making in London before returning to Glasgow, where he set up a business.

1757-1763: Mathematical-instrument maker to the University, Glasgow. 1763-1764: Repaired a Newcomen steam engine, which started him thinking about ways to improve the engine. 1765-1770: Erects a range of full-size Newcomen engines in Scotland. 1767: Surveyor of Forth and Clyde canal. 1774: Started a business in Soho, near Birmingham, with Matthew Boulton to manufacture his improved Watt steam engine. 1784: Patented a steam locomotive. 1800: Retired to Heathfield Hall near Birmingham. Engineering Achievements Watt adopted the centrifugal governor to regulate the speed of a steam engine. (This was already in use for governing wind and watermills.) He invented the parallel motion to convert circular motion to an approximate straight line motion (of which he was most proud) and the steam indicator to measure steam pressure in the cylinder throughout the working cycle of the engine, so showing its efficiency. Watt greatly helped the development of the embryonic steam engine into a viable and economic means of power generation.

He realised that the Newcomen steam engine was wasting nearly three quarters of the steam energy in heating the piston and chamber. Watt developed a separate condenser chamber which significantly increased the efficiency. Further refinements made the steam engine his life's work. Watt was opposed to the use of high pressure steam, and is held by some to have held back the technical development of the steam engine by other engineers, until his patents expired in 1800. With his partner Matthew Boulton he battled against rival engineers such as Jonathan Hornblower who tried to develop engines which did not fall foul of his 'catch-all' patents. He introduced a unit called the horsepower to compare the power output of steam engines, his version of the unit being equivalent to 550 foot-pounds per second (about 745.7 watts. Watt also invented several other things, not least a copying device for letters. Rememberance The SI unit of power, the watt, is named after him. So is, at least in part, Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University.

He is also remembered by the Moonstones, two individual statues, and a statue of him, Boulton and Murdoch, by William Bloye, and a school named in his honour, all in Birmingham. Matthew Boulton's home, Soho House, is now a museum, commemorating both men's work. There are over 50 roads or streets named after him, in the UK. Bibliography Rev. Dr. Richard L, Hills, James Watt, Vol 1, His time in Scotland, 1736-1774 (2002), 480pp, many illus., Landmark Publishing Ltd, (ISBN 1-84306-045-0) [ The second volume covering his time in England until his death in 1819 is due for publication at the end of 2004. James Watt - Biography, Facts and Pictures James Watt Lived 1736 – 1819. James Watt was the father of the industrial revolution. His crucial role in transforming our world from one based on agriculture to one based on engineering and technology is recognized in the unit of power: the watt.

James Watt was born in 1736 in Greenock, Scotland, UK. He was an inventor, engineer and scientist. Quick Guide to James Watt’s Inventions and Discoveries James Watt: • radically improved the steam engine, starting the industrial revolution. • continued to produce a stream of new ideas and inventions, which eventually resulted in an engine that needed 80% less fuel than earlier engines. • invented high pressure steam engines capable of even higher efficiencies, but the technology of the time was not capable of operating them safely. • introduced the word horsepower to describe an engine’s power output. We now generally use watts to measure power, although engine power is still often rated in horsepower. • was the first person to propose that water was made of hydrogen combined with oxygen. • independently discovered the scientific concept of latent heat. • invented the world’s first copying machine – similar in function to a photocopier – to make copies of correspondence, pages of books, and pictures. Advertisements Early Years James Watt came from a successful family. His grandfather taught mathematics, and his father was a carpenter, who built ships. His mother was well-educated, and intelligent. She taught him to read, while his father taught him arithmetic and writing.

He excelled at math, science and engineering at high school, but his language skills were less impressive. As a boy, James Watt’s health was often poor, and much of his learning took place at home, where he could watch the fishing boats coming into the port of Greenock and the big sailing ships bringing in tobacco from the Americas. One day, thanks to his inventive mind, ships like these would be powered by engines. At eighteen, following the death of his mother, and a ship sinking that placed a financial burden on his family, James gave up his plans to go to university. Instead, he trained in London as a scientific instrument maker, specializing in mathematical and nautical instruments. Within two months, his skills were higher than others who had been in training for two years. His exceptional hand skills had previously been commented on by workers in his father’s shipyard in Greenock. After a year in London, he found work at Glasgow University, repairing instruments for the astronomy department. Glasgow University Making Friends, Building Knowledge, and Developing New Skills at Glasgow University Watt’s instrument work was so good that the university’s professors wanted to keep him working there permanently, so they invited him to set up a workshop in the university.

The professors soon realized the young man in the workshop had a brain equal to their own. They began calling on him to discuss their work. Students of mathematics and physics found that Watt had learned more about their subjects than they had. He also overcame his earlier poor language skills, teaching himself German and Italian in order to read more scientific literature. James Watt in his workshop At Glasgow University, James Watt became friends with Adam Smith, who founded the academic discipline of Economics and wrote The Wealth of Nations. He also became friends with the chemist Joseph Black, who discovered magnesium and, independently of Watt, invented the concept of latent heat. In 1759, four years after his arrival in Glasgow, the 23 year-old James Watt became interested in steam engines. This happened when another of his new friends at the university, Professor John Robinson discussed with Watt the possibility of a steam-driven car. Although their ideas for the car were impractical, a seed had been sown in Watt’s fertile mind. Professor Robinson didn’t stand still either. He was the first person to publish an inverse-square law for electric forces, and he invented the siren.

The Coming of Steam In 1763, aged 27, Watt came into contact with a working steam engine, the Newcomen engine. Professor John Anderson, who used the engine as a demonstration in his physics classes, needed it repaired. Watt did the repair, but was astonished at how little work the engine was able to do. At that time, Newcomen engines had been used in Britain for 50 years, and no-one had found a way to improve them. They worked on the principle that the piston in the cylinder would be driven in one direction by a jet of steam causing air in the cylinder to expand, then cold water would be injected in place of the steam to cool the air in the cylinder, creating a partial vacuum which pulled the piston back in the other direction, ready for the cycle to begin again with the injection of hot steam. Watt decided that he could make a better engine. He thought about little else, and experimented in his workshop with water and steam in metal vessels. After two years of experimenting and thinking, Watt had his Eureka moment.

With his scientific understanding of the behavior of water and the principle of latent heat, he realized that the problem with the Newcomen steam engine was as follows: heat was being used by the engine to generate steam, but when the steam had done its work the cylinder was cooled down with water. Heating and cooling the same cylinder for every piston stroke was very costly in terms of energy needed to do it. 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. James Watt’s Steam Engine Watt redesigned the engine. His idea was that air pressure would push the piston into a partial vacuum generated when steam condenses into liquid water. The steam turned into water in Watt’s condenser, which was surrounded by cold water.

The process was helped by a vacuum pump connected to the condenser which took the hot water made by the condensing steam and conveyed it back, still hot, to the boiler ready to be turned back into steam. While keeping the condenser cold, Watt had also realized the importance of keeping the piston/working cylinder hot: he surrounded these with a hot steam jacket. By the end of 1765, a 29 year-old Watt had built his first small-scale steam engine, featuring a separate condensing chamber, and a steam jacket. The start of industrial revolution was getting closer, but had not yet begun. In 1769, aged 33, Watt patented his new engine. A Boulton & Watt engine in Birmingham, England, built during Watt’s lifetime in 1817. Image by Chris Allen. From Small-Scale Engines to Industrial Superpower Watt owned one of the most important patents in human history. He sold it to John Roebuck, whose factory went bankrupt. Matthew Boulton of Birmingham bought the patent rights to Watt’s steam engine. In 1775, Watt celebrated his 39th birthday and began a highly successful 25 year partnership with Boulton.

The partnership was a perfect combination of Watt’s scientific and engineering ingenuity and Boulton’s factory and commercial skills. Eleven years after Watt built his first small-scale steam engine, his engines began to be installed to pump water out of mines. The annual fee the mine owners paid for the machines was one-third of the value of the fuel savings the machines made. News of the new super-efficient engines spread fast, and with the coming of Watt’s steam engines, the industrial revolution began. Watt and Boulton’s success did have a few hiccups along the way. In 1791, they had to arm their workers against a four day riot in which scientists and intellectuals were a specific target . As the years passed, Boulton & Watt engines found their way into ever more applications, and the United Kingdom was gripped by the industrial revolution. Boulton and Watt began exporting their new technology all over the world. The new industries began releasing larger amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than previous human actions had. This trend continues today. James Watt in later life The End, But Not Before Another Crucial New Engine Design! In 1800, aged 64, and very wealthy, Watt retired.

His patent had expired, and he and Matthew Boulton passed their partnership to their sons, James Watt Junior, and Matthew Robinson Boulton, who continued it successfully. “James Watt was equally distinguished as a natural philosopher and chemist; his inventions demonstrate his profound knowledge of those sciences, and that peculiar characteristic of genius – the union of them for practical application.” Humphry Davy, 1778 to 1829 Watt continued with research work in his retirement. He patented his copying machine, the double-action engine, the rotary engine, and the steam pressure indicator. The rotary engine was crucial, because it enabled engines to drive wheels rather than the simpler up-down pumping motion of earlier machines. James Watt died in 1819, aged 83. His mental power had not declined. His mind was razor sharp to the end. Advertisements Author of this page: The Doc © All rights reserved. Please use the following MLA compliant citation: "James Watt." Famous Scientists. famousscientists.org. 14 Jul. 2014. Web.

< When British Scientists Fled from Mob Rule Brahmagupta James Watt (1736 - 1819) - Genealogy James Watt Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland, United Kingdom Death: in Birmingham, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom Immediate Family: Jan 30 1736 - Greenock, United Kingdom Death: Aug 25 1819 - United Kingdom Son: Jan 19 1736 - Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland Death: Aug 25 1819 - Handsworth, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England Parents: James Henry Watt The Elder, Agnes Watt (born Muirhead) Spouses: Margaret Watt (born Miller), Watt (born Blaine), Anne Watt (born McGrigor) Children: Margaret Miller (born Watt), Watt, Janet Jessy Watt, James Watt, Gregory Watt, Agnes Watt, Miss Watt, and names of 7 more children Siblings: Jan 19 1736 - Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland Death: Aug 25 1819 - Handsworth, Birmingham, England Parents: Jan 19 1736 -

 Heathfield, England Death: Aug 25 1819 - Heathfield, England Wife: Jan 30 1736 - Greenock, United Kingdom Death: Aug 25 1819 - United Kingdom Son: Aug 25 1819 - Handsworth, West Midlands Parents: James Watt Junior, Margaret Watt, Gregory Watt, Janet Watt Residences: Jan 19 1736 - Heathfield, England Death: Aug 25 1819 - Heathfield, England Parents: James Watt, Agnes Watt (born Murhead) Siblings: John Watt, <Private> Watt, <Private> Watt, <Private> Watt Wife: Jan 19 1736 - Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland Death: Aug 25 1819 - Heathfield Hall, Near Birmingham, Warwickshire, England Parents: James Watt, Agnes Watt (born Muirhead) Wife: Jan 19 1736 - Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland Death: Aug 25 1819 - Heathfield Hall, Near Birmingham, Warwickshire, England Parents: James Watt, Ag

nes Watt (born Muirhead) Wife: Jan 19 1736 - Greenock, near Glasgow.

(Inventor, Scientist) Death: Aug 19 1819 - Heathfield, England Parents: James Watt, Agnes Watt (born Muirhead) Son: About James Watt, FRS Wikipedia Biographical Summary: "...James Watt, (19 January 1736 – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both the Kingdom of Great Britain and the world..." "...James Watt was born on 19 January 1736 in Greenock, Renfrewshire, a seaport on the Firth of Clyde. His father was a shipwright, ship owner and contractor, and served as the town's chief baillie,[while his mother, Agnes Muirhead, came from a distinguished family and was well educated. Both were Presbyterians and strong Covenanters. Watt's grandfather, Thomas Watt, was a mathematics teacher and baillie to the Baron of Cartsburn..." "...When he was eighteen, his mother died and his father's health began to fail.

Watt travelled to London to study instrument-making for a year, then returned to Scotland, settling in the major commercial city of Glasgow intent on setting up his own instrument-making business..." "...In 1764, Watt married his cousin Margaret (Peggy) Miller, with whom he had five children, two of whom lived to adulthood: James Jr. (1769–1848) and Margaret (1767–1796). His wife died in childbirth in 1772. In 1777 he married again, to Ann MacGregor, daughter of a Glasgow dye-maker, with whom he had two children: Gregory (1777–1804), who became a geologist and mineralogist, and Janet (1779–1794). Ann died in 1832.

Between 1777 and 1790 he lived in Regent Place, Birmingham..." "...In 1759 Watt's friend, John Robison, called his attention to the use of steam as a source of motive power,[15] and Watt began to experiment with it...." "...Watt's critical insight was to cause the steam to condense in a separate chamber apart from the piston, and to maintain the temperature of the cylinder at the same temperature as the injected steam (by surrounding it by a "steam jacket"). This meant that very little heat was absorbed into the cylinder itself on each cycle, and thus far more steam pressure was available to provide mechanical force. Watt had a working model by 1765..." "...Watt retired in 1800, the same year that his fundamental patent and partnership with Boulton expired..." "...Watt continued to invent other things before and during his semi-retirement.

He invented a new method of measuring distances by telescope, improvements in the oil lamp, a steam mangle and a machine for copying sculptures..." "...He and his second wife travelled to France and Germany, and he purchased an estate in Wales at Doldowlod House, one mile south of Llanwrthwl, which he much improved. He died on 25 August 1819 at his home "Heathfield" in Handsworth, Birmingham, England at the age of 83. He was buried on 2 September..." "...Typical of many major inventors, there is some dispute whether Watt was the original sole inventor of some of the inventions he patented.

There is no dispute, however, that he was the sole inventor of his most important invention, the separate condenser, the parallel motion linkage, nor of his single other commercially successful invention, the copy machine..." SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'James Watt', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 19 August 2011, 13:37 UTC, < > [accessed 22 August 2011] Other References James Watt Biography - parents, school, mother, son, information, born, time, year, achievements James Watt Biography Heathfield, England Scottish engineer, instrument maker, and inventor The British instrument maker and engineer James Watt developed an efficient steam engine that was a universal (covering everything) source of power and thereby provided one of the most essential technological parts of the early industrial revolution (a period of rapid economic growth that involved increased reliance on machines and large factories). Watt's early years James Watt was born on January 19, 1736, in Greenock, Scotland, the son of a shipwright (a carpenter who builds and fixes ships) and merchant of ships' goods. As a child James suffered from ill health.

He attended an elementary school where he learned some geometry as well as Latin and Greek, but he was not well enough to attend regularly. For the most part he was educated by his parents at home. His father taught him writing and arithmetic, and his mother taught him reading. Of much more interest to James was his father's store, where the boy had his own tools and forge (furnace to shape metals), and where he skillfully made models of the ship's gear that surrounded him. His father taught him how to craft things from wood and metal. He also taught James the skill of instrument making. As a youngster he played with a small carpentry set his father gave him, taking his toys apart, putting them back together, and making new ones. In 1755 Watt was apprenticed (working for someone to learn a craft) to a London, England, mathematical instrument maker. At that time the trade primarily produced navigational (ship steering) and surveying (land measuring) instruments. Watt found London to be unpleasant, however. A year later he returned to Scotland. Watt wanted to establish himself in Glasgow, Scotland, as an instrument maker.

However, restrictions imposed by the tradesmen's guilds (associations of craftsmen) stood in his way. Friends at the University of Glasgow eventually arranged for him to be appointed as "mathematical instrument maker to the university" in late 1757. About this time Watt met Joseph Black, who had already laid the foundation (base) of modern chemistry and of the study of heat. Their friendship was of some importance in the early development of the steam engine. Invention of the steam engine At the University of Glasgow, Watt had become engaged in his first studies on the steam engine. During the winter of 1763–64 he was asked to repair the university's model of an earlier model of the steam engine made by Thomas Newcomen around the year 1711. After a few experiments, Watt recognized that the fault with the model rested not so much in the details of its construction as in its design. He found that a volume (amount of space taken up by an object or substance) of steam three or four times the volume of the piston cylinder (chamber with a moving object inside of it) was required to make the piston move to the end of the cylinder.

The solution Watt provided was to keep the piston at the temperature of the steam (by means of a jacket heated by steam) and to condense (make less dense) the steam in a James Watt. Library of Congress . separate vessel (chamber) rather than in the piston. Such a separate condenser avoided the large heat losses that resulted from repeatedly heating and cooling the body of the piston, and so engine efficiency was improved. It took time for Watt to turn a good idea for a commercial invention into reality. A decade passed before Watt solved all the mechanical problems. Black lent him money and introduced him to John Roebuck of the Carron ironworks in Scotland. In 1765 Roebuck and Watt entered into a partnership. Watt still had to earn his own living but his employment as surveyor of canal construction left little time for developing his invention. However, Watt did manage to prepare a patent application on his invention, and the patent was granted on January 5, 1769. By 1773 Roebuck's financial difficulties brought not only Watt's work on the engine to a standstill but also Roebuck's own business.

Matthew Boulton, an industrialist (someone who owns and operates a factory) of Birmingham, England, then became Watt's partner. Watt moved to Birmingham. He was now able to work full time on his invention. In 1775 Boulton accepted two orders to build Watt's steam engine. The two engines were set up in 1776 and their success led to many other orders. Improvements in the steam engine Between 1781 and 1788 Watt modified and further improved his engine. These changes combined to make as great an advance over his original engine as the latter was over the Newcomen engine. The most important modifications were a more efficient use of the steam, the use of a double-acting piston, the replacement of the flexible chain connection to the beam by the rigid three bar linkage, the provision of another mechanical device to change the reciprocating (back and forth) motion of the beam end to a rotary (circular) motion, and the provision of a device to regulate the speed. Having devised a new rotary machine, the partners had next to determine the cost of constructing it.

These rotary steam engines replaced animal power, and it was only natural that the new engine should be measured in terms of the number of horses it replaced. By using measurements that millwrights (people who build mills), who set up horse gins (animal-driven wheels), had determined, Watt found the value of one "horse power" to be equal to thirty-three thousand pounds lifted one foot high per minute. This value is still used as the standard for American and English horsepower. The charge of building the new type of steam engine was based upon its horsepower from that time forward. Other inventions On Watt's many business trips, there was always a good deal of correspondence (letters) that had to be copied. To avoid this tiresome task, he devised letter-press copying. This works by writing the original document with a special ink. Copies are then made by simply placing another sheet of paper on the freshly written sheet and then pressing the two together. Watt's interests in applied (practical) chemistry led him to introduce chlorine bleaching into Great Britain and to devise a famous iron cement.

In theoretical chemistry, he was one of the first to argue that water was not an element (basic substance of matter made up of only one kind of atom) but a compound (substance made up of two or more elements). In 1794 Watt and Boulton turned over their flourishing business to their sons. Watt maintained a workshop where he continued his inventing activities until he died on August 25, 1819. Watt's achievements in perfecting the steam engine have been recognized worldwide. The watt, a unit of electrical power, was named after him. For More Information Champion, Neil. James Watt. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2001. Robinson, Eric, and A. E. Musson. James Watt and the Steam Revolution. New York: A. M. Kelley, 1969. Sproule, Anna. James Watt: Master of the Steam Engine. Woodbridge, CT: Blackbirch Press, 2001. User Contributions: Inventor James Watt Biography Inventor: James Watt Criteria; First practical. Entrepreneur.

Birth: January 19, 1736, in Greenock, Scotland Death: August 19, 1819 in Heathfield, England Nationality: Scottish Invention: steam engine improvements in 1769 Function: noun / steam engine Definition: An engine that converts the heat energy of pressurized steam into mechanical energy, especially one in which steam drives a piston in a closed cylinder. Patent: Milestones: 1754: Learned the trade of mathematical-instrument making in London before returning to Glasgow 1763: Repaired a Newcomen steam engine, started him thinking about ways to improve the engine. 1767 Iinvented an attachment that adapted telescopes for use in measurement of distances 1769: Patented separate condensing chamber for steam engine. 1774: Started a business with Matthew Boulton to manufacture his improved Watt steam engine. 1781: Converted reciprocal engine motion to rotary motion. 1782: Invented double-acting engine. 1784: Patented a steam locomotive. 1788: Adapted centrifugal governor for use on the steam engine.

CAP: Watt, James Watt, Thomas Savery, Thomas Newcome, Matthew Boulton, John Roebuck, ARY, steam engine, Newcomen's engine, watt, horsepower, industrial revolution, SIP, history, biography, inventor, invention. The Story: James Watt, Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, renowned for his improvements of the steam engine. Watt was born on January 19, 1736, in Greenock, Scotland. He worked as a mathematical-instrument maker from the age of 19 and soon became interested in improving the steam engines, invented by the English engineers Thomas Savery and Thomas Newcomen, which were used at the time to pump water from mines. Watt determined the properties of steam, especially the relation of its density to its temperature and pressure, and designed a separate condensing chamber for the steam engine that prevented enormous losses of steam in the cylinder and enhanced the vacuum conditions. Watt's first patent, in 1769, covered this device and other improvements on Newcomen's engine, such as steam-jacketing, oil lubrication, and insulation of the cylinder in order to maintain the high temperatures necessary for maximum efficiency.

At this time, Watt was the partner of the British inventor John Roebuck, who had financed his researches. In 1775, however, Roebuck's interest was taken over by British manufacturer Matthew Boulton, owner of the Soho Engineering Works at Birmingham, and he and Watt began the manufacture of steam engines. Watt continued his research and patented several other important inventions, including the rotary engine for driving various types of machinery; the double-action engine, in which steam is admitted alternately into both ends of the cylinder; and the steam indicator, which records the steam pressure in the engine. He retired from the firm in 1800 and thereafter devoted himself entirely to research work. The misconception that Watt was the actual inventor of the steam engine arose from the fundamental nature of his contributions to its development. The centrifugal or flyball governor, which he invented in 1788, and which automatically regulated the speed of an engine, is of particular interest today. It embodies the feedback principle of a servomechanism, linking output to input, which is the basic concept of automation. The electrical unit, the watt, was named in his honor.

Watt was also a renowned civil engineer, making several surveys of canal routes. He invented, in 1767, an attachment that adapted telescopes for use in measurement of distances. Watt coined the term horsepower. Watt died in Heathfield, England, on August 19, 1819. By the time he died, he'd changed history and was the most honored engineer who had ever lived. TO LEARN MORE James Watt - Graces Guide Grace's Guide British Industrial History Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 121,950 pages of information and 183,434 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them. James Watt Jump to: navigation , search James Watt His workshop in Heathfield. Published in The Engineer in 1877. From a watercolour by W. C. Aitkin. James Watt's Room Statue of James Watt at Montevideo Railway Station , Uruguay. Photographed in 2010. 1866. 1925. His workshop at Heathfield Hall. Steam indicators.

James Watt's micrometer at the London Science Museum James Watt (1736–1819) was a Scottish inventor and engineer whose improvements to the steam engine were fundamental to the changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution. 1736 January 19th. James Watt was born in Greenock to James Watt (1698-1782) . His father was a shipwright, ship owner and contractor, while his mother, Agnes Muirhead, came from a distinguished family and was well-educated. Both were Presbyterians and strong Covenanters. Watt attended school irregularly and instead was mostly schooled at home by his mother. He exhibited great manual dexterity, an aptitude for mathematics, while Latin and Greek left him cold, and he absorbed the legends and lore of the Scottish people. 1753 When he was seventeen, his mother died and his father's health had begun to fail. Watt travelled to London to study instrument-making for a year, then returned to Scotland – to Glasgow – intent on setting up his own instrument-making business.

However, because he had not served at least seven years as an apprentice, the Glasgow Guild of Hammermen (any artisans using hammers) blocked his application, despite there being no other mathematical instrument-makers in Scotland. Watt was saved from this impasse by the professors of the University of Glasgow, who offered him the opportunity to set up a small workshop within the university. It was established in 1757 and one of the professors, the physicist and chemist Joseph Black , became Watt's friend and mentor. 1764, age 28, Watt married his cousin Margaret Miller, with whom he had five children, two of whom lived to adulthood. She died in childbirth in 1773. 1761 Four years after opening his shop, Watt began to experiment with steam after his friend, Professor John Robison , called his attention to it. At this point Watt had still never seen an operating steam engine, but he tried constructing a model. It failed to work satisfactorily, but he continued his experiments and began to read everything about it he could. He independently discovered the importance of latent heat in understanding the engine, which, unknown to him, Joseph Black had famously discovered some years before.

He learned that the University owned a model Newcomen Engine , but it was in London for repairs. Watt got the university to have it returned, and he made the repairs in 1763. It too just barely worked, and after much experimentation he showed that about 80% of the heat of the steam was consumed in heating the cylinder, because the steam in it was condensed by an injected stream of cold water. His critical insight, to cause the steam to condense in a separate chamber apart from the piston, and to maintain the temperature of the cylinder at the same temperature as the injected steam, came finally in 1765 and he soon had a working model. Now came a long struggle to produce a full-scale engine. This required more capital, some of which came from Black. More substantial backing came from John Roebuck , the founder of the celebrated Carron Iron Works , near Falkirk, with whom he now formed a partnership. But the principal difficulty was in machining the piston and cylinder. Iron workers of the day were more like blacksmiths than machinists, so the results left much to be desired. Much capital was spent in pursuing the ground-breaking patent, which in those days required an act of parliament.

When Watt removed from Glasgow to Birmingham in May, 1774, he brought with him his imperfect cylinder of hammered tin, which was found useless and abandoned early in 1775. By April of that year he had obtained a new cast iron cylinder, presumably bored on Wilkinson's new machine, and this proved satisfactory. Watt, writing to Smeaton in April, 1776, said, "Mr· Wilkinson has improved the art of boring cylinders so that I promise upon a 72in. cylinder being not further from absolute truth than the thickness of a thin sixpence in the worst part." Strapped for resources, Watt was forced to take up employment as a surveyor for eight years. Roebuck went bankrupt, and Matthew Boulton , who owned the Soho Manufactory near Birmingham, acquired his patent rights. Watt and Boulton formed a hugely successful partnership ( Boulton and Watt ), which lasted for the next twenty-five years. Watt finally had access to some of the best iron workers in the world.

The difficulty of the manufacture of a large cylinder with a tightly fitting piston was solved by John Wilkinson who had developed precision boring techniques for cannon making at Bersham, near Wrexham, North Wales. 1776 he married again, to Ann MacGregor, daughter of a Glasgow dye-maker, who survived him. She died in 1832. 1776, the first engines were installed and working in commercial enterprises. These first engines were used for pumps and produced only reciprocating motion. Orders began to pour in and for the next five years Watt was very busy installing more engines, mostly in Cornwall for pumping water out of mines. The field of application of the invention was greatly widened only after Boulton urged Watt to convert the reciprocating motion of the piston to produce rotational power for grinding, weaving and milling. Although a crank seemed the logical and obvious solution to the conversion Watt and Boulton were stymied by a patent for this, whose holder, John Steed , and associates proposed to cross-license the external condenser. Watt adamantly opposed this and they circumvented the patent by their sun and planet gear in 1781.

Over the next six years, he made a number of other improvements and modifications to the steam engine. A double acting engine, in which the steam acted alternately on the two sides of the piston was one. A throttle valve to control the power of the engine, and a centrifugal governor to keep it from "running away" were very important. He described methods for working the steam expansively. A Compound Engine, which connected two or more engines was described. Two more patents were granted for these in 1781 and 1782. Numerous other improvements that made for easier manufacture and installation were continually implemented. One of these included the use of the steam indicator which produced an informative plot of the pressure in the cylinder against its volume, which he kept as a trade secret. Another important invention, one of which Watt was most proud of, was the three-bar linkage which produced the straight line motion required for the cylinder rod and pump, from the connected rocking beam, whose end moves in a circular arc. This was patented in 1784. These improvements taken together produced an engine which was about five times as efficient in its use of fuel as the Newcomen engine.

Because of the danger of exploding boilers and the ongoing issues with leaks, Watt was opposed at first to the use of high pressure steam - essentially all of his engines used steam at near atmospheric pressure. 1790 Watt moved into Heathfield; which he had built for himself. [1] . He lived there for 30 years. Annexed to the house, in the back yard, he built a forge, and upstairs in his 'garret' he fitted up a workshop 1794 the partners established Boulton and Watt to exclusively manufacture steam engines, and this became a large enterprise. By 1824 it had produced 1,164 steam engines having a total nominal horsepower of about 26,000. Boulton proved to be an excellent businessman, and both men eventually made fortunes. James Watt was an enthusiastic inventor, with a fertile imagination that sometimes got in the way of finishing his works, because he could always see "just one more improvement." He was skilled with his hands, and was also able to perform systematic scientific measurements that could quantify the improvements he made and produce a greater understanding of the phenomenon he was working with.

Watt was a gentleman, greatly respected by other prominent men of the Industrial Revolution. He was an important member of the Lunar Society , and was a much sought after conversationalist and companion, always interested in expanding his horizons. He was a rather poor businessman, and especially hated bargaining and negotiating terms with those who sought to utilize the steam engine. Until he retired, he was always much concerned about his financial affairs, and was something of a worrier. His personal relationships with his friends and partners were always congenial and long-lasting. 1800 Watt retired aged 64, the same year that his fundamental patent and partnership with Boulton expired. The famous partnership was transferred to the men's sons, Matthew Boulton and James Watt (Junior) . William Murdoch was made a partner and the firm prospered. Watt continued to invent other things before and during his semi-retirement. He invented a new method of measuring distances by telescope, a device for copying letters, improvements in the oil lamp, a steam mangle and a machine for copying sculptures. He and his second wife travelled to France and Germany, and he purchased an estate in Wales, which he much improved. 1819 August 19th.

He died in his home "Heathfield" in Handsworth, Staffordshire at the age of 83. [2] As with many major inventions, there is some dispute as to whether Watt was the original sole inventor of some of the numerous inventions he patented. There is no dispute, however, that he was the sole inventor of his most important invention, the Separate Condenser. It was his practice (from around the 1780s) to pre-empt others' ideas which were known to him by filing patents with the intention of securing credit for the invention for himself, and ensuring that no one else was able to practice it. As he states in a letter to Boulton of 17 August 1784: I have given such descriptions of engines for wheel carriages as I could do in the time and space I could allow myself; but it is very defective and can only serve to keep other people from similar patents. Some argue that his prohibitions on his employee William Murdoch from working with high pressure steam on his steam locomotive experiments delayed its development.

Watt, with his partner Matthew Boulton , battled against rival engineers such as Jonathan Hornblower who tried to develop engines which did not fall foul of his patents. Watt patented the application of the sun and planet gear to steam in 1781 and a steam locomotive in 1784, both of which have strong claims to have been invented by his employee, William Murdoch . Watt himself described the provenance of the invention of the sun and planet gear in a letter to Boulton from Watt dated January 3, 1782: I have tried a model of one of my old plans of rotative engines revived and executed by W. M(urdock) and which merits being included in the specification as a fifth method... The patent was never contested by Murdoch, who remained an employee of Boulton and Watt for most of his life, and Boulton and Watt's firm continued to use the sun and planet gear in their rotative engines, even long after the patent for the crank expired in 1794.

James Watt's improved steam engine transformed the Newcomen Engine , which had hardly changed for fifty years, into a source of power that transformed the world of work, and was the key innovation that brought forth the Industrial Revolution. A key feature of it was that it brought the engine out of the remote coal fields into factories where many mechanics, engineers, and even tinkerers were exposed to its virtues and limitations. It was a platform for generations of inventors to improve. It was clear to many that higher pressures produced in improved boilers would produce engines having even higher efficiency, and would lead to the revolution in transportation that was soon embodied in the locomotive and steamboat. It made possible the construction of new factories that, since they were not dependent on water power, could work the year round, and could be placed almost anywhere. Work was moved out of the cottages, resulting in economies of scale. Capital could work more efficiently, and manufacturing productivity greatly improved. It made possible the cascade of new sorts of machine tools that could be used to produce better machines, including that most remarkable of all of them, the Watt steam engine. Watt was a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Society of London.

He was a member of the Batavian Society, and one of only eight Foreign Associates of the French Academy of Sciences. Watt was buried in the grounds of St. Mary's Church, Handsworth , in Birmingham. Later expansion of the church, over his grave, means that his tomb is now buried inside the church. A statue of him, Boulton and Murdoch is in Birmingham, as are two other statues of him alone, one in Chamberlain Square, the other outside the Law Courts. He is also remembered by the Moonstones and a school is named in his honour, both in Birmingham. Many of his papers are in Birmingham Central Library. Matthew Boulton's home, Soho House, is now a museum, commemorating the work of both men. 1824 Proposed monument. Speakers included Humphry Davy , Matthew Boulton , William Huskisson , Sir J. Mackintosh, Mr. Brougham, Mr. Littleton, Mr. Peel, Earl of Aberdeen, Frankland Lewis, Lord Liverpool, Mr. Wedgwood and Mr.

Wilberforce [3] [4] [5] The location of James Watt's birth in Greenock is commemorated by a statue, close to his birthplace. Several locations and street names in Greenock recall him, most notably the Watt Memorial Library , which was begun in 1816 with Watt's donation of scientific books, and developed as part of the Watt Institution by his son (which ultimately became the James Watt College). Taken over by the local authority in 1974, the library now also houses the local history collection and archives of Inverclyde, and is dominated by a large seated statue in the vestibule. Watt is additionally commemorated by statuary in George Square, Glasgow and Princes Street, Edinburgh. The History and Progress of Metallurgical Science By Sir Robert Hadfield from The Engineer Journal 1923/11/09 "When thinking of the great Engineers of the past in Birmingham, the name that rises first and most prominently before us is that of James Watt. The fame of Watt's great work in the development of the steam engine is world-wide. His discovery of the method of the condensing steam in a vessel entirely separated from the cylinder occured in 1765.

He took out his first patent in January, 1769, and this was renewed by Act of Parliament in 1775. Later in 1778, came his engine on the expansion principle, and his double-acting engine in 1781..." Read more . See Also Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame James Watt's attic workshop from his home at Heathfield is recreated at the Science Museum, London James Watt (1736-1819), engineer who transformed the steam engine and made it viable for widespread commercial applications Engineering achievements James Watt trained as a scientific instrument maker and developed into an outstanding engineer, scientist and inventor. Watt's practical and enquiring mind led him to repair a malfunctioning teaching model at Glasgow University of a Newcomen steam engine, culminating in his invention in 1765 of the separate condenser to dramatically improve its efficiency. With subsequent improvements in engine design, Watt's engine developed into a form in which it could be applied effectively to power machinery in mines, mills and factories, ending dependence on water power for driving the industrial revolution. Watt's interest and expertise extended far beyond mechanical engineering and the steam engine however.

While working in Glasgow he developed a great and enduring interest in chemistry which he applied at the Delftfield pottery. He also practised as a civil engineer, planning a number of canals, roads, railways and docks. He was interested in the development of manufacturing practices in factories, invented a machine for copying letters and drawings, and, in his retirement, a machine for copying sculptures. His Life Died 25th August and buried at Handsworth near Birmingham 1819 His Legacy Watt's steam engine provided a huge impetus to the industrial revolution which occurred in the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as recognised by his business partner Matthew Boulton who stated in 1776: 'I sell here, Sir, what all the world desires to have - Power'. Watt has been cited as one of the most influential people in human history, and as "the most useful man who ever lived". In the course of developing his steam engine Watt developed a profound understanding of what today is called thermodynamics, and in 1796 developed the indicator to aid understanding of the behaviour of the steam inside the engine's cylinder.

Aware of the need to help potential purchasers of his new engine comprehend its output, Watt adopted the term 'horsepower', a key step in the standardisation of the measurement of power. Watt's name and significance is recognised by the International System of Units (SI) which titles its unit of power the 'watt'. Watt's More The model of the Newcomen engine that inspired Watt's improvements is in The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow James Watt's workshop is recreated in the Science Museum , London Old Bess , a 1777 beam engine by Boulton and Watt is in the Science Museum , London There is a 1788 Rotative engine in the Science Museum , London. Soho House in Birmingham celebrates the life of Matthew Boulton and James Watt and features the Lunar Society Near Nelson's Column in Glasgow Green is the James Watt boulder . The McLean Museum and Art Gallery , Greenock has displays on the life of James Watt Statue of Watt by Chantrey in National Museum of Scotland

Question: Who is this? Lived 1736 - 1819. Born in Greenock, Inventor, Partnered Matthew Boulton?
Answer: JAMES WATT