Universal Encyclopedia
Who was James Watt?
James Watt (1736–1819) was the Scottish engineer whose separate condenser, patented in 1769, turned the steam engine from a crude, wasteful mine pump into the efficient powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution; the SI unit of power, the watt, bears his name.
Last updated: October 2026
An instrument maker at the University of Glasgow, he saw in 1765 that the Newcomen engine wasted most of its fuel reheating its own cylinder — and solved it with a separate chamber where steam could condense without cooling the cylinder. His partnership with Matthew Boulton then sold the improved engine to the world.