A History Of The Growth Of The Steam-Engine

NAME: INSTRUCTOR: INSTITUTION: DATE: BOOK REVIEW. The book A History of the Growth of the Steam-Engine by Robert H Thurston talks about the growth and development of the steam engine back in the days of the industrial revolution. Among the major technological advancement that took place at the beginning and during the period of the industrial revolution, the invention of the steam power machine was the most critical. The book also tells us about the people who contributed to its invention like James Watt and Mathew Boulton. Despite all the effort that was put in the research, Robert H .Thurston is unable to clearly explain more deeply the stages of the development. There are also some critical issues and arguments that are brought out in the book concerning the development of the steam engine. The following is a brief history of the development of the steam engine according to Robert’s. Thurston’s book “A History of the Growth of Steam Engine”. The first stage in the development of the steam engine was done by Thomas Newcomen. He invented the first safe and successful steam power machine. The machine mainly worked under the dependence of gravity and atmospheric pressure, thus it was called Newcomen’s Atmospheric Machine. Initially during the first phase, the machine was controlled by hand, but later on, an escapement mechanism was devised to enable the engine work automatically. Newcomen’s machine eventually became inefficient due to the increased industrial revolution, hence there was the need to be developed further. James Watt comes in the second stage of the steam power engine development and he improves on Newcomen’s Atmospheric Machine. His success in perfecting the machine was a result of incorporating a series of radical improvements. Robert says that he used the steam jacket around the cylinder to maintain the temperature of the steam and also separated the steam condenser chamber from the piston. These improvements greatly increased the engine efficiency and reduced the use of coal. The most crucial stage in the development of the engine occurred when an inventor James Watt decided to form a partnership with a manufacturer Mathew Boulton. Their partnership was the most successful business in ...