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The Industrial Age

(Source: Jim Switzer, Mme Darwish's French B class, Cairo, Egypt. April 7, 2001)

Thomas Newcomen Thomas Newcomen had the brilliant idea to move a piston inside a cylinder using atmospheric pressure; unfortunately, a less successful, stupider, but quicker engineer beat him to it, Savery. He patented the engine 'based on fire' and so this really prevented Newcomen from becoming rich like Watt. However, Newcomen is the real grandfather of the steam engine. His ideas not only created the steam engine, but also saved countless lives from the dangers of coalmines in Britain. Newcomen's engine was extremely inefficient, the boilers leaked and the steam pressure was low. It would be up to another engineer to patent and improve the engine, James Watt.

The hero of Alexandria The hero of Alexandria was the first development which would eventually led to the steam engine, as we know it today. The hero of Alexandria was a temple, and the special thing about it was that when the fire on the altar was lit, pneumatic power would open the gigantic wooden doors to the temple. After the fire had subsided, the steam pressure would decrease, and weights on the door brought it to a close. This is an amazing accomplishment for such an early race of people, and was the beginning of the engine that led to the industrial revolution.

James Watt transformed the steam engine from the crude, unpractical experiments of atmospheric pressure to the machine we know today. Mr. Watt was not only a scientist, but also great in many other aspects of life. Watt had a lot to acheive scientifically. He discovered about 40% of all the basic facts we know about steam, its cooling point, its elasticity ratio, and was the father of all steam engines. The idea had been born, it just remained to be refined, and watt was the one who almost did it completely. He patented the cooling system which he invented, and in so doing he made him self an awful lot of money (it's like me patenting the spark plug), but he had one thing he did not do that he should have done, he did not use high powered steam, fearing that the weak boilers of the time would not contain the pressure. It was up to another man to further refine the steam engine.