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Brother James Watt<\/strong><\/p>\n January 30th 1736 \u2013 August 25th 1819<\/p>\n Member of:<\/p>\n The Royal Arch Lodge in Glasgow, Scotland<\/p>\n Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen<\/a>‘s 1712 Newcomen steam engine<\/a> with his Watt steam engine<\/a> in 1781, which was fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.<\/p>\n While working as an instrument maker at the University of Glasgow, Watt became interested in the technology of steam engines. He realized that contemporary engine designs wasted a great deal of energy by repeatedly cooling and reheating the cylinder. Watt introduced a design enhancement, the separate condenser, which avoided this waste of energy and radically improved the power, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of steam engines. Eventually he adapted his engine to produce rotary motion, greatly broadening its use beyond pumping water.<\/p>\n Watt attempted to commercialize his invention, but experienced great financial difficulties until he entered a partnership with Matthew Boulton in 1775. The new firm of Boulton and Watt was eventually highly successful and Watt became a wealthy man. In his retirement, Watt continued to develop new inventions though none was as significant as his steam engine work. He died in 1819 aged 83.<\/p>\n