The steam engine is considered the single most important invention of the Industrial Revolution.

Early steam engines, developed by figures like Thomas Newcomen, were inefficient but useful for pumping water out of coal mines.

The Scottish inventor James Watt made a crucial improvement in the 1760s by inventing a separate condenser, which made the engine vastly more efficient.

Watt's engine consumed much less fuel and could be adapted to produce rotary motion, allowing it to power machinery.

The steam engine freed factories from the need to be located next to rivers for water power.

It could be used to power a wide range of industrial machinery, from textile looms to iron forges.

The application of the steam engine to transportation led to the development of the steamboat and the steam locomotive.

The increased use of steam engines also drove a massive increase in the demand for coal.

It became the defining power source of the industrial age.

The steam engine fundamentally transformed industry, transportation, and daily life.