James watt family biography videos

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

This article is about the inventor and mechanical engineer.

James watt family biography videos

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)^[a] 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.^[1] Watt's insight was to realise that contempor