Inventions & Discoveries · Energy and power
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that does mechanical work with steam, usually by pushing a piston in a cylinder; the Spanish inventor Jerónimo de Ayanz patented the first steam-powered water pump, for draining mines, in 1606. Thomas Savery's pump of 1698 was the first commercial steam-powered device, and Thomas Newcomen's engine of about 1712 the first commercially successful one to transmit continuous power to a machine. From 1763 James Watt improved it with a separate condenser, greatly cutting fuel use, and by the 19th century steam engines powered factories, railways and ships.
On the inventions tree
- First known
- 1606
- Where
- Spain
- Credited to
- Jerónimo de Ayanz y Beaumont · Thomas Savery · Thomas Newcomen · Habsburg Spain · Kingdom of Great Britain
NoteAyanz patented a steam-powered pump in 1606; Thomas Savery’s pump of 1698 was the first commercial steam device, and Thomas Newcomen’s engine of about 1712 the first to drive machinery.
See also
Cite this entry
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Steam engine. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/steam-engine
- MLA
- “Steam engine.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/steam-engine. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Steam engine.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/steam-engine.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Steam engine’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/steam-engine (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻