Trains are among the most invested mode of transport in the modern era in big economies such as China, the USA, and Russia. The trains are used for public and load transport because of their higher mechanical abilities. However, despite their impressive abilities, they started as inefficient and poor innovations that were innovated back in the early 17th century. Their development was done in phases, with the government supporting their improvement as they were transforming industrialization.
The steam engine is a remarkable technological innovation that changed the phase of industrialization. In 2006 McClellan & Dorn explain that the innovation was crafted by Newcomen and his plumber assistant John Cawley through their traditional intuition. The condensed steam in a cylinder creates a vacuum leaving the atmospheric pressure to drive the piston—the mechanical technique of injecting cold water through the valve to condense steam developed through trial and error. Unfortunately, the development of heating and large cooling cylinders made the engine inefficient through its massive coal consumption, thus restricting its operations within coal mines.
In the mid-18th century, English craftsmen John Smeaton and James Watt improved Newcomen’s engine. Through empirical methods and systematically tested models, Smeaton and Watt varied the dimensions of the engine steam parts until they doubled the engine’s efficiency (McClellan et al., 2006). Then, in 1765, they arrived at the idea of condensing steam separately, thus reducing the use of coal. This fled the steam engine from using too much coal and thus used away from coal mines.
The development of the steam engine will remain a remarkable innovation that led to the spread of industrialization. Industrialization changed the social status of the world. It changed administrations through conquering and colonization. Developed economies through the radicalization of the transport system to and from the market and even changed the cultural setting through long-distance interactions. During its innovation, people anticipated its great revolution leading to its rapid development and improvement, which saw an easing the labor. Moreover, it showed great physics and Mathematical application during its development.
References
McClellan, J. E., Dorn, H., & Bertoloni, M. D. (2006). Science and technology in world history: An introduction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
McClellan, J. E., & Dorn, H. (2006). Science and technology in world history: An introduction (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press.