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There is no doubt James Watt should be celebrated for his many achievements, without which the industrial revolution that followed could not have happened. Later, in 1885 following the merger George Heriot’s Trust, the name was changed once again to Heriot-Watt College. At this time, therefore, the School of Arts was renamed the Watt Institution and School of Arts to inspire students, many of whom were skilled working-class men. In 1824 a subscription fund was started in Edinburgh, which in 1852 was used to help buy the School of Arts a permanent home in Adam Square. To the founders of the School of Arts James Watt encompassed many of their ideals, as someone who had, through his native talents and hard work, gained renown as an engineer and inventor. Watt’s other achievements included his work as a surveyor on various canal projects, his discoveries in the field of chemistry and his development in 1780 of a copying machine, something that continued in use well into the twentieth century. This helped accelerate the speed at which Britain industrialised. In 1769 he patented an improvement to the efficiency of the existing Newcomen steam engine by adding a separate condenser and valves. His crucial role was to transform the world from one based on agriculture to one based on engineering and technology, recognised in the unit of power: the Watt.īorn in Greenock, Scotland, he went on to become an inventor, engineer and scientist. James Watt (1736–1819) was the father of the industrial revolution.
