The most mundane things that you use every day (think post it notes, rubber bands, concrete) often have fascinating stories behind them.
In fact, people often only notice how something's designed when it goes wrong. But the process of discovery, testing and prototyping anything, no matter how ordinary, is full of pitfalls and the occasional exhilarating breakthrough.
Steam Engine
Britain's industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries was driven by steam. The invention of the steam engine provided vast amounts of cheap, reliable power. It also laid the foundations for the internal combustion engine and the generation of electricity, which would eventually replace it.
An Englishman called Thomas Newcomen invented the first steam engine in 1712 in response to the need to drain deep coalmines of water. His steam pump worked by letting steam into a cylinder, forcing a piston upwards. Connected to a rocking arm, this movement of the piston was the energy of the steam converted into motion. The steam in the cylinder would then cool, causing it to condense. This created a vacuum, pulling the piston back down.
James Watt, a Scotsman, recognised that while it was effective, the Newcomen engine was terribly inefficient. His invention was to add a separate condenser cylinder that could remain permanently cool, enabling the engine to derive much more power from the steam it used.
Frank Whittle