Who Invented the Steam Engine? Here is a Short Biography and Its Development – Jakarta, goodfair — The first steam engine was discovered to be large and very simple. However, who actually invented  the steam engine that has now evolved into a sophisticated machine?
Before the discovery of the steam engine, steam power sources were limited to driving water and windmills . While the main source of power still used human power.
Short Biography of the Inventor of the Steam Engine
The inventor of the steam engine was James Watt. Quoted from the book Mengenal Penemu Sains dan menemukannya (2007), Watt was born on January 19, 1763 in Greenrock, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
His father worked as a fairly successful shipping and home building entrepreneur.
As a child, Watt studied at home with his mother. However, in addition to studying at home, he also studied at a language school in the nearby area.
There, Watt studied Latin, Greek, and Mathematics. But it turned out that the thing that had the most impact on his intelligence was what he learned at his father’s workplace.
In his father’s workshop, he learned a lot about carpentry and shipbuilding engineering, so that through this place his knowledge of the machinery industry continued to grow.
Actually, Watt was not the first person to create a steam engine. So who actually invented the steam engine? In 1712, a young Englishman Thomas Newcomen had already created a steam engine.
However, for Newcomen it was still less efficient and could only be used for water pumps and coal mines, so it still required a lot of improvisation.
It was with the Newcomen engine that Watt eventually undertook major repairs to his steam engine.
The Development of Steam Engines from Time to Time
In 1764, Watt made several important improvements to Newcomen’s steam engine until it was as Watt had envisioned it.
One of the things Watt added was a separate room for isolating the separator and preventing heat in the steam cylinder.
The improvements were considered successful because through these additions Watt finally produced an engine that was four times more efficient.
In addition, Watt also invented a gear device to change the reverse motion of the engine so that it can rotate. It can be said that this engine has undergone many improvements.
Watt’s success did not stop there, Watt also succeeded in creating an automatic circular motion force controller that could automatically monitor the speed of the machine.
He also created a pressure gauge, a speedometer, a pointer and a steam controller as additional equipment for improvement.
With the completeness of Watt’s discoveries, finally this steam engine could not only be used for factories, but could also work as a ship’s propulsion or steam locomotive.
With the success he achieved. Watt finally patented the steam engine as his invention in 1769.
Compared to previous steam engines, Watt’s steam engine was clearly more complete and efficient and could be used in various industries.
Several years later, Watt’s engine continued to undergo improvements which ultimately made this engine have extraordinary uses when viewed from the industrial sector.
After patenting his invention, Watt began to enter the business world with Matthew Boulton and his company was quite successful.
Several years later, Watt died at Healthfield Hall, Marwick, England on August 25, 1819.
