Fifty years before James Watt came on the scene Thomas Newcomen built practical steam engines to pump water out of mines. What is known of these engines and how did they influence later ones?

Image caption, The Newcomen steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712. The engine was commonly found in coal mines across Britain and Europe in the 1700s. Steam-powered engines in coal ...

An atmospheric steam engine built for Caprington Colliery, Ayshire, in 1811 to a design developed by Thomas Newcomen a century earlier. This was less efficient than James Watt's steam engine ...