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James Watt Biography

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WATT, James (1736-1819). A British mechanical engineer, famous for his improvements on the steam engine, which were so important and fundamental as often to lead to his being styled its inventor. He was born at Greenock, Scotland, the son of a carpenter and merchant, who occasionally held such town offices as treasurer and chief magistrate. His early education was at the town schools, which he was unable to attend regularly on account of ill health. At this time he was learning the use of wood and metal working tools and constructing ingenious models and original mechanisms. He evinced a taste for mathematics and a fondness for reading which he maintained through life. When eighteen years old Watt went to Glasgow to learn the trade of an instrument maker, but soon proceeded to London, where he followed this calling for a year. In 1756 he returned to Glasgow, but experienced difficulty in starting in business on his own account, owing to the opposition of workers in the same trade. He became connected with the university as an instrument maker, and remained until 1760, when he established himself independently, working also at times as a civil engineer. While at the university he became acquainted with the various professors and students and received from them instruction and suggestions. As early as 1759 he turned his attention to the construction of a steam carriage, and in 1764 he was called upon to repair the model of the Newcomen engine in the cabinet of the university. Studying this machine thoroughly, he soon realized its defects and lack of efficiency, and determined that the losses of heat in the cylinder could be corrected, and the imperfect method of condensing the steam could be improved. He contrived an independent condenser where the steam was exhausted and condensed after doing its work on the piston, instead of being condensed by a jet of cold water in the cylinder, as in the Newcomen engine. To develop this Watt secured the financial coöperation of Dr. John Roebuck, the founder of the Carron Iron Works, and in 1765 constructed a small engine, which was operated with some success. Watt was in the meanwhile spending all of his resources, but also making considerable progress in engine building, until financial misfortunes deprived him of the cooperation of Dr. Roebuck. At this time (1767) an enterprising manufacturer, Matthew Boulton (q.v.), joined with Watt, and their names were subsequently associated in the manufacture and improvement of steam engines that resulted from the partnership.

In 1774 a steam engine was completed, noteworthy in that it embodied the essential features of the modern steam engine. So much time had been spent in the development of the engine that in 1775 an act to prolong the life of Watt’s original patent until 1800 was passed by Parliament, and during this interval other valuable patents were acquired and many engines were manufactured and sold to mines and collieries. Next to the external-condensation principle the important features were: The making of the engine double-acting by the addition of valves; instead of having the steam act only on one side of the piston, which was then returned to its original position by a counterweight; and the use of steam expansively. With the double-acting engine by the use of a flywheel it was possible to have continuous rotary motion through the medium of a crank, which, while claimed as an invention of Watt, was actually patented by one Pickard, a former employee of his, and disposed of to a Mr. Washbrough of Bristol. To meet this deficiency Watt contrived various devices, of which the sun and planet gear wheels were the most successful, for changing the reciprocating into rotary motion. The application of the centrifugal governor to the steam engine, the invention of the water gauge, the mercury steam gauge, and the indicator are but a few of the many improvements contributed by Watt to the steam engine. With his many improvements and additions to the steam engine it was somewhat singular that Watt did not employ steam at high pressures, as was suggested by Trevithick and others, and which was the next important step in the development of the steam engine. The invention of the steam hammer naturally resulted from his work on the steam engine, but the copying press, a spiral oar or screw propeller, the discovery of the composition of water, a machine for reproducing sculpture, and numerous physical instruments and methods show the diversity of his researches and the breadth of his talents.

Retiring from business in 1800, he turned over to his two sons his interest in the large and remunerative business which had been built up at Soho by Boulton’s effort. He died at Heathfield, in Staffordshire, on Aug. 25, 1819. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1784; a fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1785; and in 1808 a corresponding member, and afterward a foreign member of the Institute of France. The University of Glasgow conferred on him the degree of LL.D. in 1806. A statue, the funds for which had been raised by public subscription, was erected at Birmingham, while a national monument was placed in Westminster Abbey, on which an appropriate inscription written by Lord Berryham was inscribed.

The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XXIII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 404-405.