7 The 100 Most Influential Inventors of All Time 7capitalistic spirit. Although Franklin did indeed become a
wealthy tradesman by his early 40s, when he retired from
his business, during his lifetime in the 18th century he was
not identified as a self-made businessman or a budding
capitalist. That image was a creation of the 19th century.
But as long as America continues to be pictured as the
land of enterprise and opportunity, where striving and
hard work can lead to success, then that image of Franklin
is the one that is likely to endure.
James Watt
(b. Jan. 19, 1736, Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scot.—d. Aug. 25, 1819,
Heathfield Hall, near Birmingham, Warwick, Eng.)
J
ames Watt was a Scottish instrument maker and inven-
tor whose steam engine contributed substantially to
the Industrial Revolution. He was elected fellow of the
Royal Society of London in 1785.
Education and Training
Watt’s father, the treasurer and magistrate of Greenock,
ran a successful ship- and house-building business. A deli-
cate child, Watt was taught for a time at home by his
mother; later, in grammar school, he learned Latin, Greek,
and mathematics. The source for an important part of his
education was his father’s workshops, where, with his own
tools, bench, and forge, he made models (e.g., of cranes and
barrel organs) and grew familiar with ships’ instruments.
Deciding at age 17 to be a mathematical-instrument
maker, Watt first went to Glasgow, where one of his mother’s
relatives taught at the university, then, in 1755, to London,
where he found a master to train him. Although his health
broke down within a year, he had learned enough in that
time “to work as well as most journeymen.” Returning to