The Industrial Revolution in Europe could not have taken place without the work of James Watt, who is commonly credited with inventing the steam engine.

Watt was born in Greenock, Scotland, on January 19, 1736. At an early age he helped his father build ships, and he was exposed to the various technology of the time. In 1755, he left for London to study the craft of instrument-making. He began working with steam in 1764 when Glasgow University, for which he worked, brought him a Newcomen engine for repair.

Watt not only repaired the engine, but he also began improving on it. He noted, for example, that the engine wasted time cooling the piston chamber during every cycle. Within five years Watt built a demonstration model that he patented as "a new method of lessening the consumption of steam and fuel in fire engines." This model introduced a second chamber where the...