Steam: The Untold Story of America's First Great Invention Paperback

FACTORY SEALED."Steam: The Untold Story of America's First Great Invention" is a book written by Andrea Sutcliffe that delves into the history of the steam engine in the United States during the Revolutionary Period. Published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2004, this hardcover book features illustrations and a revised edition. With a focus on technology, engineering, and general history, the book explores the impact of the steam engine on navigation, marine transportation, and science during the late 18th century. This 304-page paperback offers a detailed account of America's first great invention and its significance in shaping the nation's progress.In 1807, Robert Fulton, using an English mail-order steam engine, chugged four miles an hour up the Hudson River, passing into popular folklore as the inventor of the steamboat. However, the true first passenger steamboat in America, and the world, was built from scratch, and plied the Delaware River in 1790, almost two decades earlier. Its inventor, John Fitch, never attained Fulton's riches, and was rewarded with ridicule and poverty. Considering there was not a single working steam engine in America in the early 1780s, Fitch's steamboat's development was nothing short of remarkable. But he faced competition from the start, and he and several other inventors fought a string of bitter battles, legal and otherwise. Steam tells the dramatic story of Fitch and his adversaries, weaving their lives into a fascinating tale including the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. It is the story behind America's first important venture in technology, the persevering and colorful men that made it happen, and the great invention that moved a new nation westward.