Miller, David Philip (Author)
James Watt (1736-1819) is best known as an engineer who dramatically improved the efficiency of the steam engine. What we take to be his chemical interests are conventionally seen as peripheral to his main line of work. He is usually treated as a chemist in three main contexts: his 'practical' chemical work relating to chlorine bleaching, varnishes, pottery, and so on; his work with Thomas Beddoes on the medicinal uses of various 'airs'; his, much disputed, claim as a chemical discoverer in the case of the composition of water. In this paper, I argue that Watt himself, and his contemporaries, saw the centrepiece of his steam engine work---the separate condenser---as a chemical invention. I also suggest more broadly that Watt understood the steam engine as a chemical device. For Watt and his Scottish friends, the study of steam and heat was a chemical enquiry. The subsequent changes in the place of heat in chemical enquiry in the early nineteenth century led to a reclassification of Watt's chemical investigations as 'physics'. This, in turn, produced the sharp separation of his chemical and engineering activities characteristic of modern historiography. Watt's steam engine, which is usually placed in the lineage of machines understood as heat engines, and explained by the laws of thermodynamics, is better seen in context as a chemical device. Watt's 'indicator diagram' is reassessed in the light of this.
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Article
Miller, David Philip;
(2011)
The Mysterious Case of James Watt's “1785 Steam Indicator”: Forgery or Folklore in the History of an Instrument?
(/isis/citation/CBB001231623/)
Book
Russell, Ben;
(2014)
James Watt: Making the World Anew
(/isis/citation/CBB001510127/)
Article
Miller, David Philip;
(2004)
True Myths: James Watt's Kettle, His Condenser, and His Chemistry
(/isis/citation/CBB000774060/)
Book
Miller, David Philip;
(2009)
James Watt, Chemist: Understanding the Origins of the Steam Age
(/isis/citation/CBB000952771/)
Book
Kanefsky, John;
(1978)
Boulton and Watt and the development of the steam engine: A reassessment
(/isis/citation/CBB000005558/)
Book
Boulton, Matthew;
Watt, James;
(1981)
The selected papers of Boulton and Watt. Edited by Tann, Jennifer. Vol. 1: The engine partnership
(/isis/citation/CBB000026612/)
Book
Marsden, Ben;
(2002)
Watt's Perfect Engine: Steam and the Age of Invention
(/isis/citation/CBB000501931/)
Article
Cohen, H. Floris;
(2009)
The Rise of Modern Science as a Fundamental Pre-Condition for the Industrial Revolution
(/isis/citation/CBB001032247/)
Article
Schneider, Ivo;
(1996)
Rashomon, oder Georg Reichenbach: Der geheimnisvolle Aufenthalt des späteren Ingenieurs im Jahr 1791 bei Boulton & Watt in Soho
(/isis/citation/CBB000071473/)
Article
Hills, Richard L.;
(1998)
How James Watt invented the separate condenser. Part 1: Scientific background
(/isis/citation/CBB000078986/)
Article
Hills, Richard L.;
(1998)
How James Watt invented the separate condenser. Part II: The separate condenser
(/isis/citation/CBB000082132/)
Thesis
Verbruggen, Jan Adrianus;
(2005)
The Correspondence of Jan Daniel Huichelbos van Liender with James Watt
(/isis/citation/CBB001561904/)
Book
Caroline Archer-Parré;
Malcolm Dick;
(2020)
James Watt (1736-1819): Culture, Innovation and Enlightenment
(/isis/citation/CBB848901214/)
Article
Hills, Richard L.;
(1996-97)
The origins of James Watt's perfect engine
(/isis/citation/CBB000077682/)
Article
Tann, Jennifer;
(1979-80 (pub. 1981))
Mr. Hornblower and his crew: Watt engine pirates at the end of the 18th century
(/isis/citation/CBB000025720/)
Article
Amílcar, Martín Medina;
Gouzevitch, Maxime;
(2008)
Aux sources de la thermodynamique. Le mémoire sure “la force expansive de la vapeur” du Chevalier de Betancourt et du Baron de Prony
(/isis/citation/CBB001021142/)
Article
Mills, Allan;
(2008)
As Strong as How Many Horses? James Watt and the Definition of Horse-Power
(/isis/citation/CBB000950333/)
Article
Naegel, Paul;
Teissier, Pierre;
(2013)
Obtaining a Royal Privilege in France for the Watt Engine, 1776--1786
(/isis/citation/CBB001252210/)
Book
David Philip Miller;
(2019)
The Life and Legend of James Watt: Collaboration, Natural Philosophy, and the Improvement of the Steam Engine
(/isis/citation/CBB420592613/)
Article
Martin Schneider;
(2020)
Unter Dampf: Thomas Newcomen, James Watt und die Entwicklung einer neuen Kraftmaschine (Under steam: Thomas Newcomen, James Watt and the development of a new power engine)
(/isis/citation/CBB729404838/)
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