JAMES WATT: BIOGRAPHY, INVENTIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS - HISTORY - 2024

James Watt (1736-1819) was a renowned Scottish engineer and inventor whose improvements to the steam engine were fundamental to its expansion and, consequently, made the First Industrial Revolution possible, which implied great changes in the society of the time.

When talking about this inventor, the story is usually told of a Watt fascinated by seeing a boiling cauldron; specifically, observing the force that the steam exerted on the lid. The versions vary: in some Watt is young and in others he is older. The observed object also changes owner, being attributed to the mother and other times to its aunt.

James Watt painting

What is certain is that this simple story symbolizes the fascination that led James Watt to become one of the most influential men of his time.

In his honor, there are several places named after his name. Among these are the Watt Library, located in Greenock; James Watt University, also located in his hometown; Heriot-Watt University, based in Edinburgh; and some science colleges across the UK.

Biography

James Watt was born on January 19, 1736, in the Scottish town of Greenock, Scotland. The son of a successful merchant and shipbuilder, Watts was a child whose health was very fragile.

From elementary school he only learned geometry, Latin and Greek, as he was educated at home by his parents. It was there that his mother taught him to write and read, as well as where he learned arithmetic.

Watt spent most of his time in his father's workshop. There he had tools and a forge, with which he learned to improve and strengthen his father's ships. It was he who taught James to make instruments and artifacts out of wood and metal.

Young Watt soon learned the trade of carpentry with a game that his father gave him: with this game he would undo, modify his toys and turn them into new things.

James's mother died when he was only seventeen; shortly after, his father's business quickly declined. These events motivated James to seek better opportunities in new places.

In 1755 Watt settled in London, the capital of England, to apprentice in a mathematical instrument workshop. At that time he learned to make instruments related to navigation. The young Watt decided to return to Scotland a year later, as he saw an uncomfortable and unpleasant environment in London.

Return to Glasgow

James Watt wanted to establish himself in Glasgow, the Scottish capital, as an instrument maker. However, the Glasgow Blacksmiths Guild restricted him from trading his instruments. Blacksmiths argued that he must be an apprentice for a minimum of seven years before trading his tools.

This incident led Watt to the University of Glasgow in 1756. His first assignment was to repair a shipment of astronomical instruments belonging to Alexander Macfarlane, a Scottish merchant based in Jamaica. Part of these artifacts were later installed in the observatory of said house of studies.

It was at the University of Glasgow that Watt met a large number of scientists. Among them is Joseph Black, father of modern chemistry and the study of heat, with whom he established a fundamental relationship for the development of the steam engine.

In 1759 Watt met James Craig, an architect and businessman. The two formed a business relationship: for six years Watt manufactured quadrants, microscopes and other optical instruments in a small workshop in Trongate.

In 1763 he became a shareholder in the Delftfield Pottery Co. Watt also worked as a civil engineer, carrying out various inspections and the construction of the Forth and Clyde and Caledonian canals.

Watt married his cousin Margaret Miller in 1764, with whom he had five children. Of these, only two lived to adulthood: James Jr. and Margaret. Eight years later, Watt was left a widower.

Boulton & Watt: start of a revolution

Watt spent the next several years of his life improving the design of the steam engine before moving to Birmingham in 1774.

There he teamed up with Matthew Boulton, industrialist magnate and owner of the Soho smelter. Being a suspicious man, Watt was not skilled in business. However, his friendship with Boulton allowed him to make his machine known and enrich himself.

A year later the foundry received two orders to build Watt's steam engine. In 1776 the machines were installed; its success spread and the foundry continued to receive manufacturing orders. In 1777 Watt married Ann MacGregor, daughter of an ink manufacturer; from this second marriage were born Gregory, Janet and Ann.

The partnership with Boulton led Watt to upgrade his steam engine to make it five times more efficient than Newcomen's. Soon his invention was used in mines, factories, mills, foundries and textiles. From this moment on, the Industrial Revolution begins to take shape and spread throughout the world.

Last years

Improvements to the steam engine made James Watt a wealthy man: he was able to retire in 1800, buy country houses in Scotland, travel with his wife to France and Germany, and participate in societies dedicated to the sciences and the arts.

Watt's contributions were widely recognized during his life: he was a member of the Royal Society of London and also in that of Edinburgh. The University of Glasgow awarded him the title of Doctor of Laws in 1806, the French Academy of Sciences made him a partner in 1814, and he was also offered the title of baron, but Watt declined.

Invention occupied a central place in the life of James Watt. After retiring, he devised new instruments in a small workshop until he died on August 19, 1819. His contributions enabled Great Britain to become the world's first industrialized society.

Inventions

A Watt type steam engine, built by the David Napier & Son Limited company (London) in 1859. It was one of the first steam engines to be installed in Spain. Nicolás Pérez, via Wikimedia Commons

Since his relationship with James Craig, Watt became interested in the design of steam engines and it was not until 1763 that he had the opportunity to study them: the professor of natural philosophy John Anderson commissioned Watt to repair a steam engine designed by Thomas Newcomen in 1711.

Watt was able to repair the machine, but it always broke down after prolonged use. It took Watt several tests to discover that the fundamental flaw in the Newcomen machine lay in its design and not in its components.

Machine failure

The Newcomen machine had the following error: the steam was condensed in the same cylinder in which it also had to expand to move the piston. Watt estimated the energy waste to be 80% per cycle, as it took a long wait for the steam to reheat to push the piston.

Two years later, Glasgow came up with the solution to the problem while walking through Glasgow Green Park: a separate cylinder to serve as a condenser. This would save more fuel and improve the efficiency of the steam engine.

Watt's solution allowed the piston to maintain heat, while the steam condensed in a different cylinder; This condenser avoided the large amounts of heat lost by repeatedly heating and cooling the piston. Watt was able to manufacture the first fully functional model in 1765.

During this period one of his biggest funders was Joseph Black. He also introduced her to John Roebuck, manager of the famous Carron Foundry. Roebuck and Watt worked together for four years, until financial problems forced Roebuck to shut down the foundry in 1773.

Shortly thereafter, Watt met Matthew Boulton and their business relationship allowed him to fully dedicate himself to his invention. At the Boulton factory he was able to make various versions of his steam engine.

Upgrade time

Watt's machines were widely used and his fame spread throughout the UK. However, the greatest advancements in the steam engine were made between 1781 and 1788. The modifications that Watt made allowed the engine to use steam more efficiently.

Among the improvements made are the use of a double-acting piston, the replacement of the connection between the chain and the cylinder by three rigid rods, and the creation of another mechanical device that modified the reciprocal movement (up and down) of the cylinder. to a circular displacement, with possibilities to regulate the speed.

This new machine replaced the use of the animal for force, so Watt decided that his machine should be measured in terms of how many horses it replaced.

The Scottish scientist concluded that the value of "one horsepower" is equivalent to the energy needed to vertically lift a 75 kg-force weight at a speed of 1 m / s. This measure is still used today.

Chemical experiments

From an early age, Watt was fascinated by chemistry. At the end of 1786 the Scottish inventor was in Paris when he witnessed an experiment by the French count and chemist Berthollet. The experiment showed the creation of chlorine through the reaction of hydrochloric acid with manganese dioxide.

Berthollet found that an aqueous solution composed of chlorine was capable of bleaching textiles. He soon published his discovery, which attracted the attention of potential rivals.

Returning to Britain, Watt began experimenting with Berthollet's findings, hoping to find a process that would prove financially profitable.

Watt discovered that the mixture of salt, manganese dioxide and sulfuric acid was capable of producing chlorine. Then he passed the chlorine to an alkaline solution and obtained a cloudy liquid that was capable of bleaching fabrics.

He soon communicated his findings to his wife Ann and James MacGregor, his father-in-law, who was a dye maker. Being a very private person with his work, Watt did not reveal his discovery to anyone else.

Together with MacGregor and his wife, Watt began to magnify the process. By 1788 Watt and his father-in-law were able to bleach 1,500 yards of cloth.

Berthollet discovery

In parallel, Berthollet discovered the same process for salt and sulfuric acid. Unlike Watt, Count Berthollet decided to make it public knowledge by revealing his discovery.

Soon many scientists began to experiment with the process. Being such a fast-paced competition, James Watt decided to abandon his efforts in the field of chemistry. More than ten years later, in 1799, Charles Tennant patented a new process for producing a bleaching powder that was commercially successful.

Other inventions

Watt continued to come up with new artifacts after retiring from business. One of these was a special printing press for copying letters. This saved him the task of writing a letter several times, which was common for a businessman.

Watt's printing press worked by writing the original letter with a specific ink; then the copies were made by placing a sheet of paper over the written letter and pressing the two together. He also built machines to reproduce busts and sculptures.

Contributions

Watt's contributions to the field of science transformed the world landscape as the First Industrial Revolution began. Thanks to the steam engine great economic and social transformations took place; the productivity of the factories increased considerably thanks to the steam engine that Watt designed.

Due to his contributions to science, the international system of units baptized with the name watt - or watt - to the unit of power equivalent to one joule of work per second.

The impact that Watt's machine had on the world led scientists to consider a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene. The year 1784, in which Watt incorporated the most important improvements to his machine, serves as the starting point for this time defined by the alteration of humans on the earth's surface, the atmosphere and the oceans.

References

1. Boldrin, M. and Levine, M. "James Watt: Monopolist" (January 2009) at Mises Institute. Retrieved on September 13, 2018 from the Mises Institute: mises.org
2. "James Watt" (2010) in Undiscovered Scottland. Retrieved on September 13, 2018 from Undiscovered Scotland: undiscoveredscotland.co.uk
3. "James Watt" (2009) on the BBC. Retrieved on September 13, 2018 from BBC History: bbc.co.uk
4. Pettinger, Tejvan. "Biography of James Watt" (2010) in Biography Online. Retrieved on September 13, 2018 from Biography Online: biographyonline.net
5. Kingsford, P. "James Watt" (2018) in Britannica. Retrieved on September 13, 2018 from Encyclopedia Britannica: britannica.com
6. Sproule, Anna. "James Watt: Master of the Steam Engine" (2001) in BlackBirch Press. Retrieved on September 13, 2018 from Encyclopedia of World Biography: notablebiographies.com
7. "James Watt" (2013) in The University of Glasgow Story. Retrieved on September 13, 2018 from University of Glasgow: universitystory.gla.ac.uk