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1 CE
Hero of Alexandria
Hero created the first recorded steam engine. It converted heat energy into kinetic energy by spinning a ball on an axle. However this invention had no practical use and was merely a novelty. -
Denis Papin
Papin was a French born physicist that created the first piston steam engine. The pressure exerted by the piston on the steam did work. He incorporated this invention into the first steam powered boats by using the steam to rotate paddles on boats. -
Thomas Savery
Savery created the first steam powered pump. It was used to pump water out of mines, however it wasn't very efficient and could only lift water 6m high. The more pressure exerted, the higher the machine could lift the water, however too much pressure resulted in the boiler to explode. Savery used this engine to aid in firefighting as well. -
Thomas Newcomen
The Newcomen steam engine sprayed hot steam to push a piston up. Cold water was than sprayed on to condense the steam on the inside moving the piston back down resulting in a up and down motion. While this model was more efficient than the Savery engine, it was still inefficient due to waste of heat through heating and cooling the engine. -
James Watt
Watt realized the inefficiency of the Newcomen engine and improved it by adding separate chamber for heating and condensing the water so less heat was wasted. The engine much more efficient than the Newcomen engine, however a lot of energy was still wasted as heat was released into the surrounding as waste.
