James Watt

James Watt was a Scottish inventor and engineer whose improvements to the steam engine provided much of the impetus for the Industrial Revolution. His invention brought the engine out of remote coalfields and into factories, where work could be performed on large scales. Watt's steam engine focused attention on the processes of converting heat to mechanical work. It inspired Sadi Carnot's groundbreaking work on the efficiency of heat engines, leading to the development of the field of physics known as thermodynamics.