James Watt - Inventor of Steam Engine

Posted by Isra Anwar

July 14, 2014

Inventor of Steam Engine

James Watt is one of the most instrumental figures in history and his name is also listed as the inventor of the first steam engine. born on January 19, 1736 in Greenock, a seaport town on the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. His father was a ship owner and contractor, while his mother, Agnes Muirhead, came from a respectable and educated family. When she was 18 years old, his mother died and his father's health began to decline slowly, Watt traveled to London to continue the study of the manufacture of instruments and appliances for a year, then returned to Scotland with the aim of making your own instrument-making business.

But because he did not finish his seven-year study as apprentices (students who work while studying), a request to open the business is hampered, though at the time there is no maker of mathematical instruments and equipment in Scotland. Assisted by three professors at the University of Glasgow, James Watt finally given the opportunity to open a workshop (workshop) in a small university.

Four years after opening his shop, James Watt began to experiment with steam after his friend, Professor John Robison, got him interested in the machine. At the time, Watts had never operate the steam engine, but he still tried to make a model of the machine. Although unsuccessful, he continued his experiments and began to read what can be read. He then separately discovered the importance of thermal energy generated and absorbed by each region to understand more about the machine. in 1765 he managed to make a model of the machine that can work well.

In recognition of his services for the development of the steam engine triggered the industrial revolution, the name immortalized Watt and used as a unit of energy by the symbol W by the International System of Units (or "SI") as we know it today.