Dionysius Lardner’s The Steam Engine Explained and Illustrated was how the nineteenth century understood its own prime mover: the history from Savery and Newcomen through Watt, the anatomy of boilers, cylinders and valves, and the engine’s conquest of mine, mill, rail and sea — all in Lardner’s celebrated popular style.
Seven editions in his lifetime testify to the hunger it fed. Download the free EPUB and open the machine that opened the modern world.