Who Invented the Steam Engine

The discovery that steam could be harnessed and made to work is not credited to James Watt (1736–1819) since steam engines used to pump water out of mines in England existed when Watt was born. We do not know exactly who made that discovery, but we do know that the ancient Greeks had crude steam engines. Watt, however, is credited with inventing the first practical engine. And so the history of the modern steam engine often begins with him. James Watt We can imagine a young  Watt sitting by the fireplace in his mothers cottage and intently watching the steam rising from the boiling tea kettle, the beginning of a lifelong fascination with steam. In 1763, when he was twenty-eight and working as a mathematical-instrument maker at the University of Glasgow, a model of Thomas Newcomens (1663–1729) steam pumping engine was brought into his shop for repairs. Watt had always been interested in mechanical and scientific instruments, particularly those which dealt with steam. The Newcomen engine must have thrilled him. Watt set up the model and watched it in operation. He noted how the alternate heating and cooling of its cylinder wasted power. He concluded, after weeks of experimenting, that in order to make the engine practical, the cylinder had to be kept as hot as the steam which entered it. Yet in order to condense steam, there had some cooling taking place. That was a challenge the inventor faced. The Invention of the Separate Condenser Watt came up with the idea of the separate condenser. In his journal, the inventor wrote that the idea came to him on a Sunday afternoon in 1765 as he walked across the Glasgow Green. If the steam was condensed in a separate vessel from the cylinder, it would be quite possible to keep the condensing vessel cool and the cylinder hot at the same time. The next morning, Watt built a prototype and found that it worked. He added other improvements and built his now-famous steam engine. Partnership with Matthew Boulton After one or two disastrous business experiences, James Watt associated himself with Matthew Boulton, a venture capitalist, and owner of the Soho Engineering Works. The firm of Boulton and Watt became famous and Watt lived until August 19, 1819, long enough to see his steam engine become the greatest single factor in the upcoming new industrial era. Rivals Boulton and  Watt, however, though they were pioneers, were not the only ones working on the development of the steam engine. They had rivals. One was Richard Trevithick (1771–1833) in England, who successfully tested a steam locomotive engine. Another was Oliver Evans (1775–1819) of Philadelphia, inventor of the first stationary high-pressure steam engine. Their independent inventions of high-pressure engines were in contrast to Watts steam engine, in which the steam entered the cylinder at only slightly more than atmospheric pressure. Watt clung tenaciously to the low-pressure theory of engines all of his life. Boulton and Watt, worried by Richard Trevithicks experiments in high-pressure engines, tried to have the British Parliament passed an act forbidding high pressure on the grounds that the public would be endangered by high-pressure engines exploding. Ironically, Watts tenacious attachment to his 1769 patent, which did delay the full development of high-pressure technology, inspired Trevithicks innovative technology to work around the patent and thus hasten his eventual success. Sources Selgin, George, and John L. Turner. Strong Steam, Weak Patents, or the Myth of Watts Innovation-Blocking Monopoly, Exploded. The Journal of Law Economics 54.4 (2011): 841-61. Print.Spear, Brian. James Watt: The Steam Engine and the Commercialization of Patents. World Patent Information 30.1 (2008): 53-58. Print.

Essay about The Importance of the Characters in Fences by...

Fences is a 1983-published play by American Playwright, August Wilson. In Fences, we are introduced to several characters that serve multiple purposes to the protagonist and main character of the play, Troy Maxson. Troy is a 53 year old man who works as a garbage man, and lives with his wife, Rose and their teenage son, Cory. Along with Rose and Cory, Fences introduces us to three more members of the Maxson family: Lyons, the first born son to Troy, the step-son to Rose, and the half-brother to Cory. Gabriel, the mentally-disabled brother of Troy, brother-in-law to Rose, and uncle to Cory and Lyons, and then there is Raynell. She appears at the end of the play, and is the daughter of Troy and his lover†¦show more content†¦Instead of fulfilling his own dreams as Major League baseball player, we see his son, Cory, taking that path instead, albeit for football instead of baseball. Unlike many adults that would be proud of their childrens’ accomplishments, Troy is instead jealous and envious of how successful Cory is becoming, already being sought after by colleges for his talent in football. Troy, already been through so much with his son Lyons, his disabled brother Gabriel, and the fact that he’s done his time in prison and is now at fifty three years old, working as a garbage man, became a father that Cory never wanted, ultimately leading to Troy’s own demise. While it wasn’t necessarily Cory’s fault for his father’s death, the events that lead to Cory’s succession, soon lead to his father’s death. If Cory wasn’t the bright, humble, and educated boy that he was, Troy would have no one to be jealous of, not evens Lyons, and he wouldn’t have passed away due to the amounts of stress he took upon himself from being the envious person that he was. Even though Cory didn’t want to be the antagonist, he ended up becoming just that. All his positive reflections would soon kill the protagonist that Troy was. And what of the other members of Troy’s family, and his best friend Bono? They all knew what was to come. Gabriel himself spent the whole play trying toShow MoreRelatedThe Importance Of Characters In Fences By August Wilson721 Words   |  3 PagesHave you ever watched a movie or read a book and wanted the less powerful character to win against the more powerful person? In Fences by August Wilson, Troy Maxson is not seen as the bully and Rose Maxson is seen as the underdog. 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The play touches upon racism, shifting family dynamics, and the politics of war. While racism plays an important and vital role in the play, instead of lamenting the issue, Wilson uses the characters as a weapon against the rampant racism of the time. In the same fashion, the relationship between Troy, Rose, and Cory demonstrates the shifting culturalRead MoreThe Rise And Fall Of Troy Maxon1278 Words   |  6 Pagesof Troy Maxon: An Analysis of August Wilson’s play Fences In Fences, August Wilson, the playwright, provides a believable and powerful examination of the African American experience in the late 1950’s. It provides an apt portrayal of the mentality of African American men going into the civil rights movement, as well as a well-developed account of the friction that occurs between a father and a son, and a husband and wife in the face of conflict. According to Wilson, his play provides CaucasiansRead MoreThe Symbolic Importance of the Fence in August Wilson’s Fences1179 Words   |  5 Pagesthat the object of the fence in August Wilson’s play, â€Å"Fences† symbolizes a great struggle between the literal and figurative definitions of humanity and blackness. The author summarizes the play and uses the character Troy to explain the characterization of black abilities, such as Troy’s baseball talents, as â€Å"metaphoric,† which does not enable Troy to play in the white leagues as the period is set during segregation (Nadel 92). The author is trying to use the characters from the play as examplesRead MoreAnalysis Of Fences And Heart Of Darkness 964 Words   |  4 PagesAugust Wilson was a famous and influential playwright who wrote about the African American experience and conflicts with the White world. 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Game and Dynamically Generated World Free Essays

Minecraft: A World at Your Mercy By If you’re one of those people who quite likes computer games, but finds the endless mayhem and slaughter a bit unseemly, there is another option: putting imaginary things on top of other imaginary things. There are no scores, no obvious goals to aim for, no point at which you can punch the air and say that you’ve triumphed; you simply move around a randomly and dynamically generated world, collecting objects and building things. All at your leisure. We will write a custom essay sample on Game and Dynamically Generated World or any similar topic only for you Order Now Does that sound sufficiently exciting? Well, Minecraft allows you to do just that; it may have been billed as the â€Å"coolest game you’ve never heard of†, says Senior Emily Marchese, but it has about as much in common with Call Of Duty or Angry Birds as hopscotch or basket weaving. It’s created by Markus â€Å"Notch† Persson, developed by a very small team, but has had more than 12 million people buy the 20 dollar game. But what exactly do you accomplish playing Minecraft? Head over to YouTube, where home-produced videos of Minecraft creations litter the top 10 most popular videos each month, and you’ll find such delights as a 1:1 scale model of the USS Enterprise, roller-coasters, reconstructions of the Titanic and much else. FHS Alumni, Soham Roy gives us a few examples of what he thinks are his greatest accomplishments in Minecraft: â€Å"I have created a pyramid out of water, pushed Haroon Ahmad into a pit of lava, and tamed a gigantic pack of wolves to rip into the flesh of my enemi†¦ I mean, to cuddle and play fetch. † How you make these structures is much like how you make things in real life. You need tools and resources. You use the wood from trees to make tools and then you mine underground and start looking through caves for resources. As you go deeper you’ll find rarer resources which you can upgrade your tools with or make structures with. And when you have the resources you need, like Legos, you start putting them all together and start making anything your heart desires. You can also set up servers and create a massive world with your friends. Junior, Mike Salzarulo is one of the many students to own a minecraft server here at Freedom. â€Å"You can do anything you want. If you wanna be a nomad and travel the world you can do that. You can be like me and just set up camp and make a town with all your friends. I made a huge castle with them. † The comparisons with Lego have provoked a debate over whether Minecraft is even a game at all; maybe it should be considered more as a lowly â€Å"toy†? But when the sun sets over your Minecraft world every hour or so and darkness creeps in, monsters (or â€Å"mobs†) emerge – and if you’re not tucked up safely within your construction – your game may well be swiftly curtailed. The different types of mobs include spiders, zombies, and skeletons that are equipped with bows. The two most infamous mobs in the game are the endermen and the creepers. The endermen are passive and non-hostile and sometimes cute creatures that only attack you if you look directly at them. And finally, the creepers are the most feared of all Minecraft mobs, because if you get too close they make a hissing sound and then explode. The explosion decimates everything around you. So be careful when you look out the window of your house made out of diamond, a creeper might be trying to creep on you. Minecraft is still being made and the full version will be out in November, but will then cost $30. If you buy the game now, not only will you be able save $10, but you’ll also be able to get your hands on the game that has everyone either sitting on their computer all day or designing buildings on graph paper. How to cite Game and Dynamically Generated World, Essay examples

Game and Dynamically Generated World Free Essays

Minecraft: A World at Your Mercy By If you’re one of those people who quite likes computer games, but finds the endless mayhem and slaughter a bit unseemly, there is another option: putting imaginary things on top of other imaginary things. There are no scores, no obvious goals to aim for, no point at which you can punch the air and say that you’ve triumphed; you simply move around a randomly and dynamically generated world, collecting objects and building things. All at your leisure. We will write a custom essay sample on Game and Dynamically Generated World or any similar topic only for you Order Now Does that sound sufficiently exciting? Well, Minecraft allows you to do just that; it may have been billed as the â€Å"coolest game you’ve never heard of†, says Senior Emily Marchese, but it has about as much in common with Call Of Duty or Angry Birds as hopscotch or basket weaving. It’s created by Markus â€Å"Notch† Persson, developed by a very small team, but has had more than 12 million people buy the 20 dollar game. But what exactly do you accomplish playing Minecraft? Head over to YouTube, where home-produced videos of Minecraft creations litter the top 10 most popular videos each month, and you’ll find such delights as a 1:1 scale model of the USS Enterprise, roller-coasters, reconstructions of the Titanic and much else. FHS Alumni, Soham Roy gives us a few examples of what he thinks are his greatest accomplishments in Minecraft: â€Å"I have created a pyramid out of water, pushed Haroon Ahmad into a pit of lava, and tamed a gigantic pack of wolves to rip into the flesh of my enemi†¦ I mean, to cuddle and play fetch. † How you make these structures is much like how you make things in real life. You need tools and resources. You use the wood from trees to make tools and then you mine underground and start looking through caves for resources. As you go deeper you’ll find rarer resources which you can upgrade your tools with or make structures with. And when you have the resources you need, like Legos, you start putting them all together and start making anything your heart desires. You can also set up servers and create a massive world with your friends. Junior, Mike Salzarulo is one of the many students to own a minecraft server here at Freedom. â€Å"You can do anything you want. If you wanna be a nomad and travel the world you can do that. You can be like me and just set up camp and make a town with all your friends. I made a huge castle with them. † The comparisons with Lego have provoked a debate over whether Minecraft is even a game at all; maybe it should be considered more as a lowly â€Å"toy†? But when the sun sets over your Minecraft world every hour or so and darkness creeps in, monsters (or â€Å"mobs†) emerge – and if you’re not tucked up safely within your construction – your game may well be swiftly curtailed. The different types of mobs include spiders, zombies, and skeletons that are equipped with bows. The two most infamous mobs in the game are the endermen and the creepers. The endermen are passive and non-hostile and sometimes cute creatures that only attack you if you look directly at them. And finally, the creepers are the most feared of all Minecraft mobs, because if you get too close they make a hissing sound and then explode. The explosion decimates everything around you. So be careful when you look out the window of your house made out of diamond, a creeper might be trying to creep on you. Minecraft is still being made and the full version will be out in November, but will then cost $30. If you buy the game now, not only will you be able save $10, but you’ll also be able to get your hands on the game that has everyone either sitting on their computer all day or designing buildings on graph paper. How to cite Game and Dynamically Generated World, Essay examples