James Watt (University of Glasgow) realised that contemporary engine designs wasted a great deal of energy by repeatedly cooling and reheating the working cylinder. Watt's critical insight, arrived at in May 1765, was to cause the steam to condense in a separate chamber apart from the piston, and to maintain the temperature of the cylinder at the same temperature as the injected steam by surrounding it with a "steam jacket".
the difficulty of the manufacture of a large cylinder with a tightly fitting piston was solved by John Wilkinson. Watt also adapted his engine to produce rotary motion, greatly broadening its use beyond pumping water. in 1776, the first engines were installed and working in commercial enterprises
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