The Life and Legend of James Watt: Collaboration, Natural Philosophy, and the Improvement of the Steam Engine

441 Pages·2019·4.861 MB·English

by  David Philip Miller

The Life and Legend of James Watt
Science and Culture in the Nineteenth Century
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Bernard Lightman, Editor
the life and
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le gend of

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Collaboration,
Natural Philosophy, and the
Improvement of the Steam Engine
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David Philip Miller

University of Pittsburgh Press
Published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15260
Copyright © 2019, University of Pittsburgh Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Printed on acid- free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 13: 978-0-8229-4558-1
ISBN 10: 0-8229-4558-4
Cataloging-in-Publication data is available from the Library of Congress
Cover art: James Watt by Carl Fredrik von Breda (1792). National Portrait Gallery, London.
Cover design: Joel W. Coggins
For my grandson, Lawrence Albert Maxwell Miller, who likes machines

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
1: The Making of a Scottish Improver 3
2: Improving Ventures: Civil Engineering and Steam 33
3: Birmingham, Boulton, and Steam Enterprise 63
4: Watt as Natural Philosopher: The Experimental Life 116
5: Team Watt: Collective Genius 167
6: The Fruits of Success 204
7: The Living Legend 232
8: Afterlife: A Man for All Causes 267
9: Concluding Reflections on the Great Steamer 312
Notes 323
Bibliography 381
Index 411

Acknowledgments
Getting to the point where I could attempt this biography has been a long
process. In more than twenty years of work on Watt, I have accumulated
many debts. My children and their families have happily accommodated the Great
Steamer’s presence, indeed encouraged it. My wife, Margaret, has given excellent
editorial advice, caring because unsparing, and has been a sounding board for my
ideas. I am very grateful to her. Lawrence, to whom this book is dedicated, has been
a source of great joy to me in his early years and an object lesson in the miracle of
human learning. Colleagues at UNSW aided and abetted my research and covered
for my absences, and the university has provided invaluable facilities to continue my
work into “retirement.”
Friends around the world have assisted in many ways. I thank in particular Ben
Marsden, who made numerous important and very useful suggestions for improve-
ment of the manuscript. The book bears the mark of his collegial generosity and also
that of Trevor Levere, who gave me the benefit of an expert reading. Readers for the
press have my thanks for taking on a substantial task and giving much useful ad-
vice. Others who have inspired, assisted, and encouraged me in the course of my Watt
studies include Larry Stewart, Peter Jones, Christine MacLeod, Patricia Fara, Mal-
colm Dick, Jim Andrew, Mike Gibbs, Jack Morrell, Arnold Thackray, Simon Schaf-
fer, Steven Shapin, John Schuster, Rod Home, the late David Oldroyd, Richard Yeo,
Robert Bud, Jeffrey Sturchio, Tom Carroll, and Crosbie Smith. I also thank the many
archivists, curators, and librarians who have found, made available, and interpret-
ed the materials from which this work is constructed. Bernard Lightman and Abby
Collier believed in the project and have done their utmost to expedite it. I am in their
debt. Des, Dave, Gary, Mick, Bob, Rob, Nader, and my other early- morning walking
ix