The Little Engine That Could “I sell here gentlemen, what all the world desires: power.” Matthew Boulton, once boasted, speaking of his steam engine factory. James Watt, Boulton’s business partner significantly improved an inadequate form of the steam engine and marketed his new, more fuel-efficient invention (Ashton 25). Better engines were produced, and more uses were found for steam-power. Steam power fueled the Industrial Revolution by cutting manufacturing costs of goods significantly and quickening production (…showed first 75 words of 920 total…

…showed last 75 words of 920 total…people. By being a main player in the Industrial Revolution, the steam engine helped rearrange the wealth and power in the favor of a new middle class. The steam revolution revealed that the possibilities of inventions were limitless. In the words of Robert H. Thurston, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, “In the days of the steam engine, change moved more slowly than it does today, but still, within a lifetime, steam power transformed the world” (Stephens).