A History of the Growth of the Steam-Engine

Steam power develops through experiments, mechanical faults and successive improvements in Robert Henry Thurston’s engineering history. Adapted from lectures delivered at the Stevens Institute of Technology, the book follows the development of the steam-engine and the scientific ideas used to explain its operation. Thurston draws on accounts of Newcomen and Watt, discusses compound engines, and gives particular attention to wasted heat and possible ways of reducing it. His preface connects the history of invention with questions about the limits of further improvement.

The account of John Fitch’s steamboat work gives the subject a practical focus. Models, patent applications and efforts to raise money accompany trials of paddle-wheels, an endless chain and mechanically driven oars. Working with Henry Voight, Fitch confronts leaking parts and a faulty condenser. Readers interested in engineering history can follow how technical decisions, financial support and repeated testing shaped the machinery of steam navigation.