Watt's separate condenser

James Watt's improvement cut the fuel hunger of the Newcomen engine; with Matthew Boulton he industrialized engine-making itself.

Why it matters

For the first time, usable energy came from fuel rather than muscle, wind or water. Power became a purchasable input — the physical substrate of the Industrial Revolution.

People

James Watt · Matthew Boulton

Threads

This event sits on Energy.

Related events

• c. 1760 – 1840

  The Industrial Revolution

  Machinery, factories, coal and canals reorganized production in Britain — then everywhere — moving work from home to mill and most people from field to town.

  Economics · europe

• 1825 – 1830

  The railways bind distance to a timetable

  The Stockton & Darlington ran in 1825; by 1830 the Liverpool & Manchester — won by Stephenson's Rocket at Rainhill — showed steam rail as a business.

  Technology · europe

• 1879 – 1882

  Edison lights the night

  Edison's Menlo Park lab delivered a practical incandescent lamp, then the Pearl Street station (1882) to power it — light sold as a service.

  Technology · americas

Sources

• Encyclopædia Britannica — James Watt