James Watt did not invent the steam engine, but he made it vastly more efficient. In 1765, he developed a separate condenser, which drastically reduced energy waste and fuel consumption.

In a world propelled by combustion engines, gas turbines and nuclear reactors, the steam engine may seem like a relic of the past. But without this game-changing invention, the modern world would ...

News Published: 20 December 1924 The Thermal Efficiency of Steam Engines Nature 114, 913–914 (1924) Cite this article ...