Watts' Perfect Engine

James Watt has become a symbol of noble heroism, taking his place as a Great Briton. Ben Marsden here recounts a fascinating story of scientific and social upheaval in an age of radical change.

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We all know the story. A young James Watt gazed up at a simmering kettle, then grew up and replaced the rattling lid with a piston, heralding the age of steam. But how much of this familiar legend is true? Ben Marsden's entertaining and informative book provides the answer, which as you might guess is: not a lot. Scotland on Sunday



James Watt is synonymous with the steam engine: Promethean symbol of the Industrial Revolution. But what motivated Watt to re-invent steam? And how did Watt's perfect engine become the progenitor of progress and its problems in nineteenth-century Britain?