The treatises
of Desaguliers and others on physics gave Watt a knowledge of that
domain of natural phenomena which stood him in good stead later, when
he attempted to apply its principles to the reduction of the wastes of
the steam engine.
It was while at Glasgow University, working under such influences and
in such an atmosphere of intellectual activity, that the accident of
the Newcomen model engine needing repair brought to the mind of Watt
the opportunity which, availed of at once, made him famous and gave
the world its greatest aid, its most powerful servant. The observing
mind of the great mechanic immediately noted its defects, sought their
causes, found their remedy. He discovered, at once, that the quantity
of steam entering the cylinder of the little engine has four times the
volume of the cylinder receiving it: in other words, three-fourths of
that steam must be condensed immediately on entrance. This meant,
evidently, that only one-fourth of the steam supplied was utilized,
and even then inefficiently, in doing its work. The reason of this was
as easily seen, immediately the fact was revealed. As Watt himself
expressed it, the causes of this loss, causes which would obviously be
exaggerated in a small engine, were: "First, the dissipation of heat
by the cylinder itself, which was of brass and both a good conductor
and a good radiator.
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