INVENTION OF STEAM ENGINE JAMES WATT DIED ON 1819 AUGUST 25
INVENTION OF STEAM ENGINE JAMES WATT DIED ON 1819 AUGUST 25 James Watt, (born January 19, 1736, Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland—died August 25, 1819, Heathfield Hall, near Birmingham, Warwick, England) Scottish instrument maker and inventor whose steam engine contributed substantially to the Industrial Revolution. He was elected fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1785. EDUCATION AND TRAINING Watt’s father, the treasurer and magistrate of Greenock, ran a successful ship- and house-building business. A delicate child, Watt was taught for a time at home by his mother; later, in grammar school, he learned Latin, Greek, and mathematics. The source for an important part of his education was his father’s workshops, where, with his own tools, bench, and forge, he made models (e.g., of cranes and barrel organs) and grew familiar with ships’ instruments. Deciding at age 17 to be a mathematical-instrument maker, Watt first went to Glasgow, where on...