James Watt (1736-1819) was a pivotal figure of the Industrial
Revolution. His career as a scientific instrument maker, inventor and
engineer was developed in Scotland, his land of birth. His subsequent
national and international significance as a scientist, technologist and
businessman was formed in the Birmingham area. There, his partnership
with Matthew Boulton and the intellectual and personal support of other
members of the Lunar Society network, such as Erasmus Darwin, James
Keir, William Small and Josiah Wedgwood, enabled him to translate his
improvements in steam technology into efficient machines. His pumping
and rotative steam engines represent a summit of technological
achievement in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. This
is the traditional picture of James Watt. After his death, his surviving
son, James Watt junior projected his father's image through
commissioning sculptures, medals, paintings and biographies which
celebrated his reputation as a
'great man' of the Industrial Revolution. In popular historical
understanding Watt has also become a hero of modernity, but the context
in which he operated and the roles of others in shaping his ideas have
been downplayed. This book explores new aspects of his work and
evaluates him in his locational, family, social and intellectual
contexts.
