A History of Modern Europe - From the Renaissance to the Present

The Beginnings of the Industrial Revolution 369

the number of workers in the textile industry, the leading edge of the
Industrial Revolution. Some inventions were only gradually diffused, or
their importance not recognized until later. No invention, however, was of
greater long-term significance than the steam engine, invented by James
Watt (1736-1819), a Scot who made musical instruments. Watt added a
separate condenser to a primitive steam engine, resulting in a more power­
ful engine, which he patented in 1769. Yet, like its predecessor, Watt’s
costly invention was first used only to drain mines, making it possible to
dig deeper shafts and to rapidly increase coal production, so essential to
the Industrial Revolution. Slowly, the steam engine was put to use in
manufacturing.
In 1709, Abraham Darby, a foundry man, came up with a process to smelt
iron ore into cast iron by using coke (coal residue) instead of charcoal.
This process spread only slowly; in 1775, there were still only thirty-one
blast furnaces in Britain. Moreover, charcoal smelting continued to be
important, further depleting Britain’s forests. In 1784, Henry Cort (1740­
1800), an ironmaster, invented the “puddling and rolling” process in iron
casting. Molten metal in a furnace was raked to remove carbon and other
impurities, producing wrought iron, which was far stronger than cast iron.
Iron bridges replaced their flimsy predecessors. Iron made new buildings
sturdier and basically fire-resistant. Cast-iron railings and gates began to
appear on landed estates and in elegant townhouses. Low-cost iron made
possible sturdier plows and other farm implements that, in turn, signifi­
cantly increased the demand for iron.
Improvements in the spinning wheel and basic looms had already acceler­
ated textile production in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth cen­
turies. The stocking frame produced lighter and more fashionable cotton and
silk stockings that replaced the heavier woolen hose of the upper classes.
John Kay (1704-1764) invented the “flying shuttle” (patented in 1733 but

(Left) James Watt. (Right) The steam engine.