Engines of Change | How Steam Powered the Modern Age
15-Minute History3 Mar 2025

Engines of Change | How Steam Powered the Modern Age

In the workshop, all he could smell was the coal. It filled his nostrils day and night. The metal under his hands was hot. A few months before, the heat would have been unbearable, but the scares on his hands dulled the sensation.

He bent over the two cylinders and watched as steam left one to fill the other. A spray of water went into the first cylinder, and he listened as the piston fell back into a resting position.

The man repeated this action countless times. He looked at the fire creating the steam. And then at the stores of coal which, for the first time, still seemed full. He closes his eyes, and continues the work, listening intently, almost searching for the error as the piston moves inside the cylinder. The movement of steam from one tube to the other, the created vacuum, and the sound of the responding piston continues until they encapsulate his entire world.

After some time, the mechanism slows. He knows its because the fire has gotten low.

The man drops his tools, takes a step back, and opens his eyes to a new world.

----

Join us as we talk about the history of the steam engine and how it was the pivotal change agent that led to many of the modern marvels we experience today.


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