James Watt

Britain has a long tradition of research and innovation in science, technology and engineering. Everybody knows the names of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday and, of course, James Watt.

James Watt was born in 1736 in Scotland in the family of a shipbuilder. The boy was not strong and suffered from terrible headaches, so he couldn’t go to school and his parents taught him at home. The boy had a very good memory and a natural love for work.

He liked mathematics and was fond of designing and making things. When he at last was able to attend school, he became one of the best pupils in mathematics and languages.

His passion for engineering was born when the boy read Isaac Newton’s “Elements of Natural Philosophy”. His first engineering creation was a small electric machine with which he gave his friends shocks that made them jump.

At eighteen James decided to become a professional instrument-maker and moved to his uncle’s place in Glasgow. Then he continued his studies in London and returned to Glasgow as a skilled instrument-maker.

When Glasgow University needed a qualified specialist to install new instruments in a new observatory, James Watt was invited and did that job brilliantly.

One day James Watt was asked to repair a small working model of an atmospheric-steam engine that was used for demonstration at the university lectures. He not only did that but also improved the model and made one of his greatest discoveries – a steam engine.

James Watt also made some other inventions. One of them is a copying machine which was the predecessor of the typewriter. His other invention is a rotative engine that could run machines and became the basis of industry.

James Watt retired at the age of 64, but he never stopped working in his workshop inventing new things. When he died in 1819, a monument to his memory was erected in Westminster Abbey.

1. When and where was James Watt born?

2. What can you tell about James Watt’s childhood?

3. Why did eighteen-year-old James decide to move to Glasgow?

4. How did James Watt discover his steam engine?

5. What other Watt’s inventions do you know?

6. When did James Watt die?

7. There is a monument to James Watt’s memory in Westminster Abbey, isn’t there?

Vocabulary and Speech Exercises

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