James Watt (1736-1819), Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) and William Murdoch (1754-1839) have been honoured with this gilded monument in the centre of Birmingham. In 1764, Scotsman James Watt mended a steam engine designed by Cornish engineer Thomas Newcomen (1664-1729) and devised several major improvements. Ten years later, he formed a very successful partnership with Matthew Boulton in Birmingham, manufacturing steam engines to his pioneering design. William Murdoch worked for Boulton and Watt, and added a number of key refinements ensuring that steam engines were commercially viable, and the power behind Britain’s historic industrial revolution.
Introduction
The invention of the steam engine and the railways changed the world out of all recognition. It might never have happened had the firm of Boulton and Watt, pioneers in the steam engine, not employed a self-taught Scotsman with a very unusual hat.
IN 1777, after walking there all the way from Scotland in search of work, twenty-three-year-old William Murdoch sat in the offices of the engineering firm of Boulton and Watt in Smethwick, fiddling nervously with his hat.
Matthew Boulton had to disappoint William, as the firm was not hiring, but to ease the awkwardness remarked on the hat. It seemed curiously stiff, and even to have been painted. ‘What is it made of?’ he inquired in wonder. ‘Timber,’ replied William. ‘I made it myself, sir, on a lathe of my own contriving.’ Impressed with the wooden hat, but more so with the home-made lathe, Boulton promised to see what could be done, and William left, still fiddling with his hat.
Soon after, Murdoch was engaged at 15s a week. James Watt came to rely on his ingenuity and energy in equal measure, and in 1781 they developed the first commercial rotative steam engine, nothing less than the power behind the machinery of the industrial revolution.*
Based on ‘Men of Invention and Industry’, by Samuel Smiles (1812-1904).
See also The Genius Next Door, which tells how Murdoch’s experiments with steam traction led directly to the first steam locomotive.
Précis
In 1777, young Scotsman William Murdoch walked to Birmingham in search of work. His home-made timber hat piqued his prospective employer’s curiosity, and realising the young man was unusually clever with his hands, he found him a place. Working alongside James Watt, William went on to be one of the Fathers of the Industrial Revolution. (55 / 60 words)
In 1777, young Scotsman William Murdoch walked to Birmingham in search of work. His home-made timber hat piqued his prospective employer’s curiosity, and realising the young man was unusually clever with his hands, he found him a place. Working alongside James Watt, William went on to be one of the Fathers of the Industrial Revolution.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: besides, just, may, must, or, until, whether, who.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Leave. Myself. Sir.
2 Energy. Walk. Wonder.
3 Firm. Machinery. Much.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
mt (12+3)
emit. mat. mate. meat. meet. met. mete. mite. moat. moot. mute. omit.
emeute. emote. mote.
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