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.