ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the relationship between the two main power technologies and the advance of science during the period 1700-1825. During the period 1700-1825 water- and heat-power technologies advanced pari passu. They were of critical economic importance for the textile and mining industries, and both held great promise of further development. In England the important first stages of the Industrial Revolution, at least in textile industries, were achieved almost entirely on water power: as late as 1800 much the greater part of the power used by the Lancashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire mills was provided by water. The analogy with steam power is thus becoming clearer as the two technologies come closer together: the valve mechanism is improved, and James Watt's parallel-motion mechanism is incorporated. In England the column-of-water engine had to compete with the high-pressure steam engine under conditions that were usually unfavorable.
