James Watt And Physics

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James Watt was born in Greenock in 1736, the son of a ship's chandler (trader in canvas, etc). Watt had little formal education due to poor health in his youth, but pottering about in his father's shop he developed an interest in trying to make things "work clockwork".
In his late teens he went to London to learn to be a "mathematical and philosophical instrument maker", and when he returned to Glasgow he got a job making instruments with Glasgow University, who gave him accommodations and a workshop.
In 1763 John Anderson asked him to repair an early steam engine he had acquired. This early model, known as a Newcomen engine, was very inefficient. The cylinder (where the piston was) had to be heated when steam was admitted, and then gradually cooled again to condense the steam. This wasted a lot of time and fuel. Two years later, while wandering aimlessly through Glasgow Green, Watt hit upon the idea of condensing the steam in a separate vessel. This removed the need for heating and cooling, making the engine faster, safer, and more fuel-efficient. A stone in Glasgow Green marks this spot, where the industrial revolution really began. (Later, in 1778 Watt presented Anderson with a micrometer he had designed and made, as a gesture of thanks.)
Watt went into business with Matthew Boulton, a Birmingham engineer, producing engines based on this new approach. Engineers from all the industrialized countries flocked to see their factories.
Watt's engines were initially used for pumping water cornish tin and copper mines. Later, the new cotton mills, which had been built near fast-flowing rivers to take advantage of waterpower, almost all switched to steam. Gradually, mills began to move toward the centers of population. At first, steam power was used mainly for spinning, but eventually weaving was also powered by steam engine. By 1819, the year of Watt's death, there were 18 steam-weaving factories in Glasgow, with 2800 looms. (This...