James Watt
1736 – 1819
Improved the steam engine and defined horsepower to sell it.
The Scottish engineer whose improved steam engine powered the Industrial Revolution. To sell it, Watt defined 'horsepower' by measuring what a dray horse could do — the unit that still rates engines and motors, and the reason the SI unit of power carries his name.
The power-conversion tools here trade in Watt's currency. He was as much marketer as inventor: horsepower was a sales argument that outlived the sales pitch.
Portrait: a stylized blueprint-line rendering, not a photograph.
Contributions in the toolbox
- 1782
Horsepower defined — pumping becomes a priced commodity.
→ Pump Hydraulic & Shaft Power - 1783
Defines the horsepower to price steam engines against horses.
→ Shaft Power ⇄ Torque - 1783
Defines the horsepower to sell steam engines against horses.
→ Power Converter