In the same decade that saw colonists planning the American Revolution, a quiet, energetic man in England was putting the finishing touches to a new machine destined to launch quite another kind of revolution. The man in England was James Watt. The machine he had devoted half a lifetime to perfecting was the first condensing steam engine—and invention that would change the face of the world in ways that few men dreamed possible. When James Watt set his first steam engine in motion, he began turning the wheels of what we now call the Industrial Revolution.

As a child in Scotland, young Jamie's health was so delicate he had to be educated at home by his parents. Soon he showed a great capacity and zest for knowledge, and educated himself in a variety of subjects. At seventeen he taught himself German so he could read a ten-volume work on mechanics.

Watt became fascinated by the problems involved in harnessing the power of steam, and believed he could create an engine so great that it would replace all man, animal and water power—and he set out to do it. While supporting himself as an instrument maker, and later as a surveyor, he began building crude models of his engine. He succeeded where men of less courage and purpose would have failed. His own workmen tried to steal his ideas. Prominent statesmen in Parliament denounced him as a potential monopolist and fought his right to protect his engine. His enemies hated him because they feared the changes his invention was making.

James Watt was a man of indomitable spirit who refused to allow seemingly unsurmountable obstacles to sway him from his purpose. His efforts to free man from the tyranny of brute labor revolutionized industry throughout the world.

From the dust jacket