James watt family biography sample

James Watt (January 30, 1736—August 25, 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist whose steam engine patented in 1769 greatly increased the efficiency and range of use of the early atmospheric steam engine introduced by Thomas Newcomen in 1712. While Watt did not invent the steam engine, his improvements on Newcomen’s earlier design are widely regarded as having made the modern steam engine the driving force behind the Industrial Revolution.

Early Life and Training

James Watt was born on January 19, 1736, in Greenock, Scotland, as eldest of the five surviving children of James Watt and Agnes Muirhead. Greenock was a fishing village that became a busy town with a fleet of steamships during Watt's lifetime. James Jr.'s grandfather, Thomas Watt, was a well-known mathematician and local schoolmaster. James Sr. was a prominent citizen of Greenock and a successful carpenter and shipwright who outfitted ships and repaired their compasses and other navigational devices. He also served periodically as Greenock’s chief magistrate and treasurer.

Despite showing an aptitude for mathematics, young James' poor health prevented him from attending Greenock Grammar School regularly. Instead, he gained the skills he would later need in mechanical engineering and the use of tools by helping his father on carpen

Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer and chemist (1736–1819)

This article is about the inventor and mechanical engineer. For the college, see James Watt College. For the award, see James Watt International Medal. For other people with similar names, see James Watt (disambiguation).

James WattFRS FRSE (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which 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. At the time engineers such as John Smeaton were aware of the inefficiencies of Newcomen's engine and aimed to improve it. Watt's insight was to realise 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.

As Watt developed the concept of horsepower, the SI unit of power, the watt, was named after him.

Biography

Early life and education

James Watt was born on 19 January 1736 in Greenock, Renfrewshire, the eldest of the

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY
Series Three: The Papers of James Watt and his Family 
formerly held at Doldowlod House, now at Birmingham Central Library

Part 2: Correspondence, Papers & Business Records, 1736-1848

Part 2 of this microfilm project continues with:

 - James Watt's personal correspondence (Reels 21-31)
  - James Watt's diaries, account books and memoranda books (Reels 32-33)
  - James Watt's business records: instrument making (Reel 33)
  - James Watt's business records: surveying (Reels 33-34)
  - James Watt's business records: steam engines (Reels 34-35)
  - Papers concerning Watt's various legal battles on the steam engine patent extension, Boulton v Bull, and Boulton & Watt v Hornblower & Maberly (Reels 35-37)
  - James Watt's business records: copying machine (Reel 37)
  - James Watt's miscellaneous papers (Reels 37-38) including material on Argand’s patent for a lamp, Priestley’s library, canal business, discussions with Telford on bridge designs and with Fulton on the advantages of steam engines.
  - James Watt Junior's (1769-1848) press copy letters (Reels 39-40)
  - James Watt Junior's (1769-1848) personal correspondence (Reel 40)

These documents (reproduced in Series Three of the microfilm project) were purchased from Lord Gibson-Watt, Doldowlod House, Llandundod Wells, Powys, in June 1994, with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Victoria and Albert Purchase Grant Fund and may other donors. They are now housed in the Archives Division of Birmingham Central Library with the shelfmark JWP (ACC 94/69).

James Watt
James Watt (1736-1819), surveyor, engineer, mathematical and musical instrument maker, chemist and inventor, is famous for his invention in 1765 of the separate condenser, the crucial refinement of Thomas Newcomen's steam engine. The steam engine as improved by Watt was probably the most importan

Born: January 19, 1736
Greenock, Scotland
Died: August 25, 1819
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).