Spotlight On: James Watts (1736-1819)

From a young age Watts was intrigued by mechanics.  At age 17 he was interested in Newcomen's steam engine.  He decided he wanted to improve upon the Newcomen steam engine.  By the time Watts was 29, he had determined the properties of steam and had created a separated condenser for steam engines.  Based on this information he was able to design a separate condensing container for the steam engine, which lost a great amount of steam and improved the vacuum conditions.  In 1768 he associated with John Roebuck, who funded Watts' research and obtained a patent for Watts the following year.  When Roebuck went bankrupt, Watts partnered up with Mattew Boulton.  Together they manufactured the steam engine.  Watts continued to study the steam engine and received many more patents for several other inventions.  Among some of his inventions was the centrifugal governor and the pressure gauge.  Later on Watts retired from the field of inventing and dedicated himself to research work.  Watts is sometimes mistaken as the original creator of the steam engine.  He also had the electrical unit Watt named after him.  Watt died on August 19, 1819 in Heathfield, England.