James Watt, by I.B. Hart
Reviewed by J.R.
1962Labour ReviewJ.R. Read the scan at ETOL (PDF) →Read from the scan by machine and not corrected: words can be misread, and the end of one piece can run into the next. For anything you quote, read the scan.
[p040] In James Watt and the History of Steam Power, Ivor B. Hart goes through the earliest great achieve- ment of applied science: steam power. His account shows how much the steam engine (Newcomen’s as well as Watt’s) owed to the science of the previous century. and he gives a generally reliable pic:ure of the various engines in the line of deve- lopment. Any important techno- logical innovation is a result of a complex of factors, including: avail- able theoretical knowledge, state of the necessary crafts, economic demand for the new product, availability of capital, and, of course, individual foresight, determination and courage. Hart is less concerned with the social than with the technical side of the story, and so he has less to offer to us. J.R. Imperialism, continued