I’m still early in my reading, but that, it seems to me, is why the steam engine was such a turning point and why it kicked off the Industrial Revolution. So the steam engine solved all of the problems with natural forces at once. And through mechanical innovations, we can improve the efficiency and the power of engines. If you need more energy, you can use more fuel-as much as you can afford. Fuel can be burned at any time, and can be started and stopped at will. The Greek scientist Hero of Alexandria invented the first steam device called an aeolipile that showed the possibilities of water vapor as early as the 1st century AD. In fact, the Newcomen engine was originally called a “fire engine”.įuel can be transported, so engines can operate anywhere. SeptemAlthough steam power was not used until the 17th century, scientists had understood its potential for hundreds of years. With this ingenious device, we could now use fuel instead of wind, water or muscle power. The significance of the steam engine is that it was a way to turn heat into motion. But in 1700, these two had nothing to do with each other. We could create heat by burning fuel, such as wood or coal. Separately, for many thousands of years, mankind was in control of fire. And all of them are limited: you can’t make the river stronger, or design a more efficient horse. Wind, especially, is unreliable: the wind blows when it wants to, and you can’t turn it on or off. Wind and water are not portable: you have to go where they are, and their energy cannot be used elsewhere. steam engine, Machine that uses steam power to perform mechanical work through the agency of heat (hence a prime mover).In a steam engine, hot steam, usually supplied by a boiler, expands under pressure, and part of the heat energy is converted into work. Or you could use muscle power-from domesticated animals, or failing all else, on your own.īut all these sources of energy, by themselves, have serious limitations. You could harness wind or water, with mills. Before the steam engine, if you wanted to generate useful motion-to grind wheat, to saw logs, to pump water-you had to rely on natural forces.
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