Watt's life

James watt (173665438+1October19-1865438+August 25th, 2009) was a famous British inventor and an important figure during the industrial revolution. Member of the Royal Society and foreign researcher of the French Academy of Sciences. He made a series of major improvements to the original prototype of the steam engine that had appeared at that time, and invented single-cylinder single-action and single-cylinder double-action steam engines, which improved the thermal efficiency and operational reliability of the steam engine and made outstanding contributions to the development of social productive forces at that time. He improved the steam engine and invented the barometer and power hammer. In order to commemorate him, the unit of measurement of power and radiation flux in the system is called watt, which is often represented by the symbol "W". His name will be etched in the history of mankind forever. James watt (1736 65438+ 10/9) was born in greenock, Glasgow, Scotland. When he was a child, Watt studied in a grammar school, but he didn't receive a systematic education. Watt learned a lot about mechanical manufacturing in the factory where his father worked, and later he became an apprentice in a watch shop in London. 1763, Watt went to the famous Glasgow University to repair teaching instruments. In college, he often discussed theoretical and technical issues with professors. 178 1 year, watt made a double-acting steam engine that pushed the piston from both sides. 1785, he was also elected as a member of the Royal Society for his great contribution to the improvement of the steam engine. 1865438+On August 25th, 2009, Watt died in Heathfield near Birmingham. Up to now, people can still see Watt's marble statue (a gift from Watt's son to Glasgow University) in the museum of Glasgow University. In Watt's obituary, he praised the steam engine he invented: "It armed human beings, strengthened their weak hands and improved their brains to deal with all problems. It has laid a solid foundation for mechanical power to create miracles in the future and will help and reward the labor of future generations. " Life story 1. Watt 1736, a curious child, was born in greenock, in the west of Scotland. His grandfather used to be a teacher, teaching mathematics, surveying and navigation, and his father used to be a shipbuilding technician. Later, I managed shipbuilding and construction, worked as an instrument manufacturer and businessman, and also served as a local administrator of a small town. It is said that Watt learned all kinds of crafts from his father. He is ingenious, he has been exposed to and learned a lot of technical knowledge since he was a child, and has developed the interest and habit of thinking and exploring mysteries independently. His family environment has played a certain role in climbing the technical peak in the future. Watt was sickly since childhood, but he still couldn't go to school when he was old enough to go to school. A few years after school age, he came to study in the school in the town. At school, he doesn't like to play with children, but only likes to meditate alone. There is a well-known legend about his childhood: one day, Little Watt saw a pot of water boiling at home, and the steam made the lid jump. This common phenomenon aroused his great interest. He stared at the beating lid and the steam coming out, thinking hard about the mystery. I have been watching it for over an hour. Because Watt often observes many strange and unknown phenomena silently for a long time, people say that he is a "lazy boy". In fact, it is this curiosity and spirit that led him to explore the mysteries of the world and climb the peak of science. /kloc-began to be interested in geometry at the age of 0/3, and/kloc-finished reading such a difficult book as Geometric Principles at the age of 0/5. Later, he entered the grammar school, and his math performance was particularly excellent. Due to poor health, he dropped out of school before graduation. But he insisted on teaching himself astronomy, chemistry, physics and anatomy at home and taught himself several foreign languages. Watt became an apprentice to a watch shop in Glasgow at the age of 17. He studied hard in his spare time and further mastered many scientific and technological principles. When he was an apprentice, he began to make compasses and theodolite with high technical requirements. 2 1 year-old, came to Glasgow University as a teaching aid experimenter, responsible for repairing and manufacturing instruments. At that time, he became more familiar with some advanced mechanical technologies. Second, promoting inventions all over the world, human understanding and utilization of steam has gone through a long historical process. As early as the second century BC, the ancient Greeks used steam injection to make a reactive engine. 1690, the Frenchman Bobby first invented the first piston steam engine, but he failed to make it a practical steam engine. 1698, British technician Seles invented a practical piston-less steam engine. This machine is used in mines and is called "Friends of Mines". However, due to the limitations of materials and technology at that time, it could not be popularized. 17 12 years, newcomen, an unknown ironworker, invented the first practical steam engine. The steam engine is a technological innovation, which has changed the process of industrial development. Newcomen and his plumber's assistant Cowley happened to find that introducing compressed steam into the cylinder can create a local vacuum, so atmospheric pressure can push the piston in the cylinder. As a steam engine, the alternating heating and cooling of large cylinders is of course extremely inefficient and burning coal is also very wasteful. But newcomen's steam engine was originally used in coal mines, where the coal price was very low and it was economical to use, so it was soon widely used. However, after all, wasting a lot of coal is a serious shortcoming of that kind of machine, especially in other places, the cost is too high, and it is urgent to improve the efficiency of steam engines. /kloc-Around the middle of the 8th century, British craftsmen Smeaton and Watt respectively improved newcomen's steam engine according to completely different ideas. The improvement work of the two of them is basically carried out within the technical tradition without any scientific abstraction. Smeaton later became the chairman of the Society of Civil Engineers (Smeaton Society). He used an empirical method to test the prototype one by one in an orderly way, without changing the basic design, only changing the size of each component. In this way, he doubled the efficiency of newcomen's steam engine. Watt suddenly thought of his solution when he went out to play on a Sunday in 1765. His idea is that the main defect of newcomen's steam engine is to use cold water to cool the cylinder once per stroke, which consumes a lot of heat and makes most of the steam not be effectively used. If the steam pressure is cooled in another container outside the cylinder, the cylinder can be kept hot throughout the cycle. It avoids heating the cylinder for a while and cooling the cylinder for a while, which naturally saves considerable coal. Watt raised money by himself, rented the basement, bought the necessary equipment, experimented repeatedly and experienced numerous setbacks and failures. With the help of workers, he finally invented the condenser separated from the cylinder, which solved the technical problems of manufacturing precision cylinders and pistons. At the same time, he made a single-acting steam engine by lubricating the piston with oil and adding a thermal insulation layer outside the cylinder. After continuing the experiment, 1782 invented a double-acting steam engine with connecting rod, flywheel and centrifugal governor, and made a new practical steam engine. In this double-acting steam engine, the installation of the valve enables the piston to be pushed forward and backward by the pressure of steam. With the help of connecting rod and flywheel, the linear motion of piston is transformed into circular motion. In order to keep the steam engine running at a constant speed, he connected a centrifugal governor to the steam inlet valve to automatically adjust the steam inlet. This device is the earliest automatic controller used in technology. He designed a condenser separated from the cylinder to guide the high-temperature steam out of the cylinder and cool it to keep the main cylinder at a certain temperature. At the same time, he improved the accuracy of the cylinder and made the piston and valve smooth and tight. Watt's idea is very novel in principle and the efficiency improvement is amazing. Through the cooperation with Birmingham machine manufacturer Bolton (which is very successful and famous), Watt's steam engine was quickly accepted by users and widely used in other industries except coal mines, which promoted the great development of urban manufacturing. By 1800, there were 500-watt steam engines in Britain, and since then, the number of steam engines has increased rapidly. Watt's steam engine became a truly international invention, which effectively promoted the industrial revolution in Europe in the18th century and pushed the world industry to the "age of steam". But Watt's steam engine still depends on atmospheric pressure, so it must be big and heavy (sometimes called "stationary machine"). By the end of 18, this fixed machine is usually used by factories to push machines; Because the hull is relatively large, early steamboats can also be propelled by atmospheric steam engines. But the railway locomotive can't work, so there must be a small high-voltage model. The smaller steam engine was designed by another Englishman, Trevithick, in 1800. Third, the famous genius inventor1784 In April, the British government awarded Watt a patent certificate for manufacturing steam engines. Marx once commented: Watt's great genius is shown in the specification of the patent he obtained. He did not describe his steam engine as a special-purpose invention, but an engine widely used in large industries. Watt enjoys a high position in the academic and scientific circles in Britain and continental Europe. He became a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1784 and the Royal Society of London in 1785. 1808 became an academician of French bachelor's college, and 18 14 was elected as one of the eight foreign academicians of French Academy of Sciences. It is recognized by scientific circles all over the world that Watt is one of the most famous. Because of such an epoch-making great invention, Watt suddenly changed from a penniless nobody to a great man with both fame and fortune. He got a patent tax of 76,000 pounds in 1 1 year. In order to protect his patent, he looked a little academic in his later years. He often sued the court to stop and suppress other people's inventions, and even banned his assistant from experimenting with steam to start the four-wheeled vehicle. This is the tragedy of a scientist, and it is also the brand left by his time and society. Nevertheless, he is still a great inventor. For more than 20 years, he devoted himself to the invention of the steam engine. The people will never forget his great contribution to science and technology and social progress. 18 19, 83-year-old Watt died peacefully at home. He made outstanding contributions to the scientific cause of mankind before his death, and people all over the world miss him. 1824, on the fifth anniversary of his death, the public in London erected a monument for him in the famous Westminster Abbey. Watt studied hard all his life and devoted himself tirelessly to science. On the basis of predecessors' achievements, he invented the steam engine and made epoch-making contributions to the development of human science and technology. In memory of the great inventor Watt, the commonly used unit of power was named Watt, or simply Watt.