James Watt. Biography

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James Watt (1736-1819). Biography of a scientist

Directory / The life of remarkable physicists

James Watt (1736-1819)
James Watt

The unit of power in all fields of physics and technology is named after him.

The outstanding engineer and inventor James Watt was born on January 19, 1736 in Greenock (Scotland) in the family of a merchant. Due to poor health, Watt formally studied little, but learned a lot on his own. As a teenager, he was fond of astronomy, chemical experiments, learned to do everything with his own hands, even earned the title of "jack of all trades." In 1755 Watt left for London, where he mastered the profession of a master of mathematical and astronomical instruments. In this profession, he got a job at the University of Glasgow, at the same time opened his own mechanics repair shop. In 1763, he was approached with a request to repair a steam engine.

Here we need to make a small digression. Once we were taught at school that the Russian serf mechanic Ivan Polzunov invented the steam engine, and not James Watt at all. In fact, the inventor of the steam engine is the English engineer Harry Newcomen, who developed the steam engine in 1712 (half a century before Watt). Newcomen's machine was used to pump water from numerous mines in the UK. It was the first large-scale product in the history of technology (several thousand pieces were produced).

It was such a machine that fell into the hands of James Watt. Working with this machine, Watt became convinced of its inefficiency. He set about trying to improve the parameters of the steam engine. It is difficult to enumerate all the improvements that Watt made to the steam engine (centrifugal regulator, separate steam condenser, seals, etc.). Thanks to these improvements, the efficiency has risen, and most importantly, the steam engine has become easily manageable.

Thanks to this, the steam engine began to be used in factories and factories as a drive, which led to a sharp increase in labor productivity. It was from this moment that the British counted the beginning of the great industrial revolution, which brought England to a leading position in the world. Moreover, the steam engine came to transport (Fulton's steamer, 1807, Stephenson's steam locomotive, 1815). Thanks to the advantage in means of transportation, England became the largest power in the world. The wealthy industrialist Boulton became interested in Watt's inventions. The Boulton and Watt company arose, which monopolized the production of steam engines. So James Watt became a wealthy man. He lived a long life and died on August 19, 1819.

As a unit of power, Watt at one time proposed such a unit as "horsepower". This unit has survived to this day. But in England, where Watt is revered as a pioneer of the industrial revolution, they decided otherwise. In 1882, the British Association of Engineers decided to assign his name to the unit of power, now the name of James Watt can be read on any electric light bulb. This was the first time in the history of technology that a unit of measurement was given its own name. The tradition of assigning proper names to units of measurement began with him.

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