Abstract
If you had asked James Watt, the acknowledged father of the steam engine, ‘at what point did you understand the scale of the revolution that was being powered by your inventions?’ he would probably have met your question with a quizzical look.
As with most ‘revolutions’, they are typically branded by historians after they have occurred, in this case some 30 years following Watt’s death in 1819. Watt’s contribution however heralded the most prolific period of wealth creation the world had ever witnessed, eventually to be termed The Industrial Revolution.
