A Short History of the Steam Engine

First published in 1938, this volume details the steam engine as the most dynamic factor in the Industrial Revolution, freeing humanity from their age-long dependence upon the power of water, wind, and animals, or of their own muscles. Itself the offspring of coal and iron, it made possible the sinking of deeper mines and the casting and forging of greater quantities of iron, from which machines were constructed to be powered by steam in the factories of the rapidly growing industrial areas. Soon the mass-produced goods from these mills were transported by steam locomotives and steamships all over the world. This was the Age of Steam. Even today, steam turbines still drive the dynamos of our electric power stations, whether fuelled by coal, oil or nuclear energy. Much has been written about the steam engine, but this book, first produced by the late Dr. H.W. Dickinson just before the second World War, is still the best short account. It describes developments from the pioneering efforts of Savery and Newcomen, through the achievements of Watt and Trevethick, down to Parsons and modern times.

H. W. Dickinson

Part I. The Reciprocating Engine. 1. Introductory. 2. Savery and his Fire Engine. 3. Newcomen and his Vacuum Engine. 4. The Atmospheric Engine in the Period between Newcomen and Watt. 5. Watt and his Separate Condenser Engine. 6. Low-Pressure and High-Pressure Engines, 1801-50. 7. Land Boilers, 1851 to 1900. 10. Philosophy of the Steam Engine. Part II. The Steam Turbine. 11. Kinetic Energy of Steam and Pioneers of its Use. 12. Other Turbine Pioneers. 13. General Development from 1900 to the Present Time. 14. Development in Boilers, 1901 to the Present Time.