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Thomas Savery’s ambition for his 1698 invention, the steam-powered pump, was modest: “…that water in its fall from any determinate height, has simply a force answerable and equal to the force that raises it.” The first application of steam for mechanical labour did little and was prone to explosions but changed the world. Not as much as Newcomen’s Atmospheric Engine, though, in 1712. Installing a piston, Newcomen improved some of Savery’s flaws. But the engine was still just a pump.

Along came James Watt in 1763, with improvements to Newcomen’s engine, and things took a significant turn. His engine used a separate condenser, was twice as efficient, and produced rotary motion: this opened up the portal to a new chapter in human progress.