Engineering Skills and the Efficiency of Steam Engines During Watt’s Patent

The salient features of steam power diffusion during the last quarter of the eighteenth century were not only the acceleration in the rate of adoption of atmospheric engines but also the emergence and diffusion of other models based on Watt’s novel designs which allowed their utilization in new sectors of the economy. These developments clearly seem to reflect both a spread and a deepening of engineering skills. This chapter will start building the theoretical framework that will help us understand the factors which shaped the diffusion trajectory by looking at the evolution of engineering skills which had a direct impact on the efficiency of engines by determining fuel consumption and, through the latter, the cost of steam power in relation to other power sources. The first and the most obvious task would be to describe the technological evolution of steam engines, particularly developments that led to a differentiation of design patterns emerging as species distinct from the Newcomen engine. New design patterns offered the potential of increasing fuel efficiency but the realization of this benefit hinged on two factors: first, whether there was a sufficient number of engineers and engineering shops that could deliver a high quality product in quantities sufficient to satisfy the growing level of demand forthcoming both from old and new applications of steam power; and, second, whether there was a sufficient number of competent engineers who dealt with the management of the engines on a day-to-day basis. Both topics will be addressed.