Thomas Newcomen

Newcomen, Thomas 

Born Feb. 28, 1663, in Dartmouth; died Aug. 7, 1729, in London. English inventor. A blacksmith by trade.

In 1705, together with the tinsmith J. Calley (or Cawley), Newcomen built a steam pump. Work on improving the pump lasted about ten years, until the pump was operating reliably (1712). In Newcomen and Calley’s device, the engine was connected to the pump. Newcomen could not patent his invention, since a patent for a steam-driven water-lifter had been granted in 1698 to T. Savery, with whom Newcomen later collaborated. Newcomen’s steam engine was not a universal prime mover; it operated only as a pump. However, Newcomen’s work merits recognition because he was among the first to convert into practice the concept of using steam to produce mechanical work. The Newcomen Society for the Study of the History of Engineering and Technology is named in his honor.

REFERENCE

Konfederatov, I. Ia. Istoriia teploenergetiki: Nachal’nyi period (17–18 vv.). Moscow-Leningrad, 1954.