James Watt (January 19, 1736 - August 25, 1819) was a British inventor and an important figure in the first industrial revolution.
In 1776, the first practical steam engine was built. Later, after a series of major improvements, it became a "universal prime mover" and was widely used in industry. He opened up a new era of energy utilization for mankind and brought mankind into the "steam age". In order to commemorate this great inventor, later generations set the unit of power as "Watt" (abbreviated as "Watt", symbol W). Basic introduction Chinese name: James Watt Foreign name: James Watt Nationality: British Ethnicity: Scots Birthplace: Greenock Town, Glasgow, Scotland Date of Birth: January 19, 1736 Date of Death: August 25, 1819 Occupation: Invention Family, scholar Religion: Catholic Major achievements: Improved steam engine during the first industrial revolution Representative works: Improved steam engine Place of death: Staffordshire, England Personal life, family background, early experience, schooling experience, improved steam engine, entering old age, Personal life, main influence, character controversies, character anecdotes, honorary awards, character evaluation, later commemoration, character life and family background James Watt was born on January 19, 1736, near Glasgow, Scotland, on the Firth of Clyde ) on the port town of Greenock. James Watt's studio in the Science Museum, London. Watt's father was a skilled shipbuilder and owned his own ship and shipbuilding workshop, and was also an official in the town. Watt's mother, Agnes Muirhead, was born into a noble family and received a good education. They all belong to the Presbyterian church and are staunch Covenants. Although Watt came from a religious family, he later became a deist. When Watt was a child, he didn't have much time to go to school because of his weak health. The main education was provided by his mother at home. Watt showed dexterity in hands-on skills and talent in mathematics since he was a child, and he accepted many Scottish folklore and stories. Early experience When Watt was 17 years old, his mother died and his father's business began to decline. Watt worked as an apprentice in an instrument repair shop in London for a year, and then returned to Glasgow, Scotland, intending to open his own repair shop. Although there was no similar repair shop in Scotland at the time, his application to open a shop was rejected by the Hammersmiths Guild of Glasgow (which governs all craftsmen who use hammers) because he did not complete the required seven years of apprenticeship. Watt left Scotland in 1755 and sought training as an instrument maker in London. He was admitted by John Morgan of Council. Studying experience In 1757, a professor at the University of Glasgow provided Watt with an opportunity to open a small repair shop at the university, which helped Watt get out of trouble. One of the professors, physicist and chemist Joseph Black, became Watt's friend and mentor. In 1757 the University of Glasgow appointed Watt its official "Mathematical Instrument Maker" and arranged a workshop on campus. Improved Steam Engine Five years after the opening of Watt's shop, under the guidance of his friend Professor Robinson, Watt began to experiment with steam engines. Up until this point, Watt had never seen a working steam engine, but he began building his own model of one. The preliminary experiment failed, but he persisted and read all the materials he could find on steam engines, independently discovering the importance of latent heat (although this had been discovered by Professor Black several years before, Watt did not Uninformed). The steam engine (model) invented by Watt In 1763, Watt learned that the University of Glasgow had a Newcomen steam engine, but it was being repaired in London. He asked the school to take back the steam engine and repaired it himself. After repairs, the steam engine could barely work, but its efficiency was very low.
After a lot of experiments, Watt found that the reason for the low efficiency was that every time the piston was pushed, the steam in the cylinder had to condense first and then be heated for the next push. As a result, 80% of the heat of the steam was spent on maintaining the temperature of the cylinder. From 1763 to 1765, when Watt was repairing the Newcomen pump, he designed a condenser to solve the problem of low efficiency. Roebuck put Watt's invention into commercial use. In 1765, Watt made a key progress. He thought of separating the condenser from the cylinder so that the temperature of the cylinder could be continuously maintained at the temperature of the injected steam. On this basis, he quickly built a model that could operate continuously. . But building an actual steam engine was still a long way off. The first was funding, with Professor Black providing some help, but more funding came from John Roebuck. Roebuck was a successful entrepreneur and the owner of the famous Cullen Iron Works. With Roebuck's sponsorship, Watt began the trial production of a new steam engine and became a partner in the new company. The main difficulty in trial production lies in the manufacturing process of the piston and cylinder. At that time, steel workers were more like blacksmiths than machinists, so the results were very unsatisfactory. In addition, since relevant patent applications at that time required congressional approval, most of the funds were spent on related programs. Due to a shortage of funds, Watt had to find another job as a canal surveyor, and he worked there for 8 years. Watt's signature After this, Roebuck went bankrupt and the relevant patents were taken over by Matthew Boulton, the owner of a foundry in Birmingham. Watt and Bolton began a successful 25-year partnership. The cooperation with Bolton has enabled Watt to receive better equipment funds and technical support, especially in processing and manufacturing technology. A major difficulty in the manufacture of new steam engines was the tight fit of the piston and the large cylinder. This problem was eventually solved by John Wilkinson, who proposed a new precision boring processing technology when improving the manufacture of cannons. Can be used in the manufacture of steam engines. In 1774, Watt put the steam engine he designed into production. The Bolden-Watt steam engine was first demonstrated to the public in working condition at Bromfield Colliery in 1776. In 1776, the first batch of new steam engines were finally successfully manufactured and used in actual production. Since these steam engines can only provide reciprocating linear motion, they are mainly used in water pumps. Over the next five years, Watt won a large number of orders and was busy traveling from mine to mine installing water pumps driven by this new steam engine. At Bolton's request, Watt began to continue studying how to convert the linear reciprocating motion of the steam engine into circular motion so that the steam engine could power most machines. An obvious solution was to crank the transmission, but the patent owner, John Steed, requested to also share Watt's previous patent for a split condenser, a request that Watt firmly refused. In 1781, William Murdoch, an employee of Watt Company, invented a crank gear transmission system called the "Sun and Planet" and successfully applied for a patent in Watt's name. This invention bypassed the limitations of the crank patent and greatly expanded the application of steam engines. In the next six years, Watt made a series of improvements to the steam engine and obtained a series of patents: he invented a two-way cylinder, which allowed steam to enter and exit from both ends and push the piston to move in both directions, instead of the previous one-way push. ; Use throttle valves and centrifugal governors to control air pressure and the operation of steam engines; invented a pressure indicator to indicate steam conditions; invented a three-rod group to ensure the linear motion of the cylinder push rod and air pump. Due to concerns about the risk of explosion and leakage, Watt's early steam engines used low-pressure steam, and high-pressure steam was introduced later. All these innovations combined made Watt's new steam engine (the Union steam engine) five times more efficient than the previous Newcomen steam engine. Watt's two-way steam engine was patented in 1782, and in the same year he invented a standard unit: horsepower. In 1782, Wedgwood used the combined steam engine produced by the Bolton-Watt Foundry and the power tools produced by the Birmingham Works on a large scale in the Etruscan Ceramics Factory for mechanized ceramic production. In 1784, Watt improved the Union steam engine and added a device that automatically adjusted the speed of the steam engine, making it suitable for various mechanical movements.
Since then, the textile industry, mining industry, metallurgy industry, paper industry and other industrial sectors have successively adopted steam engines as power. After 1785, Watt's improved steam engine was first put into use in the textile sector and was widely welcomed. In 1794, Watt and Bolton formed a partnership to manufacture steam engines. Under Bolton's successful management, 1,165 steam engines were produced by 1824. Watt and Bolton both made a lot of money. In his later years, Watt also made many other inventions before semi-retirement. For example, he invented a new method of measuring distances using telescopes, a new transmission printing method, improved oil lamps, steam rollers, and other inventions that continue to this day. Mechanical drawing coloring method. Watt's patent and Boulton's collaboration expired in 1800, and he retired that same year. But their partnership continued into the next generation, with Matthew Boulton continuing to work with James Watt Jr., while absorbing William Murdoch as a partner, ensuring the company's continued success. After his retirement, Watt and his second wife traveled to France and Germany and purchased a house in Wales. On August 25, 1819, 83-year-old Watt died at his home in Handsworth, Staffordshire, Staffordshire, England. Personal life Watt is delicate, slow and prone to anxiety. He often gets discouraged. He would put work aside and feel as if he was about to give up completely, but his imagination was so rich that he could always think of new ways to improve things, so that many times it was too late to complete them one by one. Watt has strong hands-on ability and can complete systematic and scientific measurements to quantify the effect of his innovation and help his understanding. Watt was a gentleman who was respected by other notable figures of the Industrial Revolution. He was an important member of the "Moon Society", an organization of industrialists and scientists in Birmingham. He always showed great interest in new fields and was considered a good social partner. But he knew little about business and had a particular dislike of haggling or negotiating contracts with those interested in using his steam engines. Until his retirement, he remained uneasy about his financial situation. His collaborators and friends were congenial associates who maintained long-lasting friendships. In 1767, Watt married his cousin Margaret Miller, and they raised five children, two of whom lived to adulthood. Main influence: The structure of the new steam engine invented by Watt based on the original steam engine remained almost unchanged for the next 50 years. The importance of Watt's steam engine invention is inestimable. It was widely used in factories and became the power of almost all machines. It changed people's work and production methods, greatly promoted technological progress and kicked off the industrial revolution. It allows the site selection of factories to no longer depend on coal mines but can be built in more economical and efficient places. It also does not have to rely on water energy so that it can operate all year round. This further promotes the development of economies of scale and greatly improves productivity. It also makes business investment more efficient. The steam engine provides the possibility for a series of precision processing innovations, and higher technology ensures the performance improvement of various machines, including the steam engine itself. After continuous efforts to introduce higher pressure steam, steam trains and steamers soon followed. Character Controversy As with many other major inventions, there has been a lot of controversy about whether Watt was the inventor of some steam engine-related patents. But for the most important separate condenser, there is no dispute that it was Watt who first proposed and invented it alone. From around 1780, Watt began to take steps to patent some of the ideas he heard from others in advance to ensure that the overall invention of the steam engine belonged to him and to prevent others from intervening. Watt said in a letter to Bolton on August 17, 1784: "My description of the roulette stand is the best I could do under the circumstances of time and place; but it itself leaves much to be desired. Defects, I only did this to prevent others from obtaining similar patents." Some people think that Watt delayed the invention by not allowing his employee William Murdoch to participate in the development of his high-pressure steam engine. Watt also worked with Boulton to suppress the work of other engineers, such as Jonathan Hornblower, who invented another steam engine in 1781, but failed after being sued for infringement of Watt's patent.
Watt applied for a patent for the "Sun and Planet" crank gear linkage in 1781, and applied for a steam engine patent in 1784. There is strong evidence that it was invented by his engineer William Murdoch. Watt mentioned the invention in a letter to Bolton on January 3, 1782: "I tried a model of an engine running in a circle, which was invented by William Murdoch on my original plan. "But William Murdoch himself never disputed the ownership of the patent. He worked at the firm of Boulton and Watt throughout his life and was absorbed as a partner after Watt retired. one. Even after the crank patent that originally blocked Watt's invention expired in 1794, Watt's steam engines continued to use this "solar and planetary" transmission technology. It is said that Watt also blocked the invention and promotion of other steam engines that were not patented by him, and believed that it was impossible to use steam engines to propel vehicles. Anecdotes Like other famous scientists and inventors, there are some interesting stories about Watt. Although most of them are exaggerated and fabricated, they are also well-known and worth remembering. The most famous one is "The Story of Watt and the Teapot". It is said that once when Watt was a child, he saw the boiling water on the stove boiling, and the steam pushed the kettle lid open. Watt put the lid back but it was quickly pushed open again. Watt kept putting the lid back and forth to find out why. Later, Watt realized that it was the power of steam, which sparked his interest in steam and led to the invention of the steam engine. Honorary Awards In 1785 Watt was accepted as a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1814, he became one of eight foreign members of the French Academy of Sciences. Character evaluation Watt is the world-recognized inventor of the steam engine. His creative spirit, superhuman talent and unremitting research left behind precious spiritual and material wealth for future generations. The steam engine improved and invented by Watt was a huge contribution to modern science and production and had epoch-making significance. It led to the rise of the first industrial technological revolution and greatly promoted the development of social productivity. Watt statue in front of Birmingham Central Library By the 1830s, steam engines were widely used in textiles, metallurgy, coal mining, transportation and other sectors, quickly triggering a technological revolution. Fulton, an American, invented a ship powered by a Watt steam engine; Stephenson, an Englishman, invented a train powered by a Watt steam engine. Watt's steam engine became a truly international invention. It effectively promoted the industrial revolution in Europe in the 18th century and pushed world industry into the "steam age." In April 1784, the British government granted Watt a patent certificate for manufacturing a steam engine. Marx once commented: Watt's great genius is reflected in the specification of the patent he obtained. He did not describe his steam engine as an invention for a special purpose, but as an engine commonly used in large industries. . In "James Watt" written by Rolt, he once wrote that the huge and tireless power of Watt's steam engine enabled production methods to mechanize on a scale that was unimaginable in the past. " Watt lived in England in the 18th and 19th centuries, so he inevitably had the limitations of the times and class. He once blocked the invention and promotion of double-cylinder steam engines and high-pressure steam engines, and also laughed at others for using steam engines to drive them. Watt made an indelible and important contribution to the promotion of the use of steam engines and effectively promoted the progress of society. Engels wrote in "Dialectics of Nature": "The steam engine is the first truly international invention... …Watt added a separate condenser to it, which brought the steam engine, in principle, to what it is today. "In Watt's obituary, he praised the steam engine he invented: "It has armed mankind, made weak hands powerful, and strengthened the human brain to deal with all problems. It lays a solid foundation for mechanical power to create miracles in the future, which will help and reward the labor of future generations. " Later generations commemorated Watt and was buried in the cemetery behind St. Mary's Church in his hometown of Handsworth. Many years later, the church was expanded, so that Watt's cemetery was actually inside the new church. Watt, Bolton and Murdoch were also built in the church. Memorial statues of the three people. At the same time, there is a sculpture of Watt and a steam engine on the monument of the "Moon Society" that Watt attended. A school in Birmingham is named after Watt. Many of Watt's manuscripts are still preserved in Birmingham. In the central library, there is still a statue of Watt in front of the library. Bolton's old residence is now a museum to commemorate his and Watt's contribution to the invention of the steam engine.
There are some colleges in Scotland also named after Watt, such as the well-known "James Watt College". The old "Heriot-Watt University" near Edinburgh was formerly the "Watt Institution and School of Arts" founded in 1821. There are more than 50 roads named after Watt across the UK. There is also a Watt monument in Westminster Abbey in London. Watt is known as one of the most famous inventors in human history. In the book "Human Achievement" by American writer Charles Murray, he once conducted a survey. Among the 229 most famous inventors in history, Watt tied for first place with Edison. In 1978, Michael Hart published an article that aroused heated discussion, "The 100 Most Influential People in Human History", Watt was listed at 22nd for his improvement of the steam engine. To commemorate Watt's contribution, the unit of power in the International System of Units is named after Watt.