The Steam Engine Essay Research Paper In — страница 3

century. (Johnson, 33-34) The steam engine allowed the people to travel to almost any destination safely, and at an extremely fast pace. The steam engine used in railways was like a magic carpet fulfilling people s hopes for a different future. They felt free to move from place to place. Many ended their rural isolation and relocated in urban centers (Siegel, 41) The steam engine was used in Britain for the first type of cars, and was used for other road paving machines. If the first car was not powered by a steam engine, there is slim to none chance that people would have had an interest in these cars and started to experiment with them. And because of that, we would not have the same extraordinary means of car transportation as we do today. For the road paving machines, the

steam engine was used to power heavy lorries, road rollers, and traction engines. Steam engines used in road rollers were used for improving our roads for the 18th century and onward. It is to the credit of the rollers that formed the base to most of our roads that their work is still standing up to traffic which the designers of that time could not possibly have foreseen. (Johnson, 26-27) Though steam engines used in road rollers to pave roads may not be revolutionary to the mind at first, when thought about, one can see how it is revolutionary. Without the roads to be paved, the cars would travel on the gravel, which was very uncomfortable and makes the travel incredibly slow. The steam ship was another alternative to the many steam operated means of transportation. Since you

couldn t travel across Asia by railroads yet, and there were no paved roads to take a steam-powered car to your destination, steam ships allowed a quick travel through the seas, rivers, lakes, or canals to arrive at long distance destinations. Because of the steam engine in the steamships, people could travel long distances like from Britain across the Atlantic in under three weeks, where as before it took over 2 months and was unsafe, and unreliable. Now it is safe, reliable, and quick. (Sproule, 54) Thanks to steam power, distance and time had lost their old links with wind, terrain, and hurrying horses hooves. To the dizzied onlookers, it must have seemed that the world was shrinking as they watched (Sproule, 56) The industrial revolution that started in about 1770 in England

revolutionized several aspects of life, as we know today. The reason to most of this revolutionized life can be credited to the steam engine. The steam engine was, and still is vital to the world today. What the steam engine did to the world is something everyone should know and care about. The steam engine changed the map of the world; it also changed the map of every country where it held sway. The towns with these steam powered factories, just grew and grew and grew. Power sources no longer had to be by a river. Because of the steam engine, cities changed from centers of trade to production centers, industrializing everywhere this steam fever went. The steam engine allowed a wave of new machines to come into use, which gave way to tons of jobs. These jobs were a basis for the

jobs we all have today. Animals no longer had to do so much work. The steam engine replaced all the animals jobs in traveling and in transportation of goods. In all, the steam engine was a key that unlocked the doors to the infinite amount of paths that have been walked through to reach to today s society. The steam engine, says Author H.W. Dickinson, was never so important in the world s economy as it is today. BIBLIOGRAPHY Author Unknown. Industrial Revolution. Earth Explorer. 2-1-1995. Online. Electric Library. 11-24-99. Gordon, John S. What has Watt Wrought? Forbes Magazine. 7-7-1997: pp144. Online. Electric Library. 11-24-99. Johnson, Brian. Steam Traction Engines, Wagons and Rollers. London: Blandford Press, 1971. Lord, John. The Penetration of Industry by Steam-Power.

12-2-1996. Online. Available: http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/lord/8.htm. 11-24-99. Siegel, Beatrice. Inventions that Changed our Lives: The Steam Engine. New York: Walker Publishing Company, 1986. Sproule, Anna. James Watt. Great Britain: Exley Publications Ltd., 1992. Wise, David B. Steam on the Road. London: Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd., 1973.