Thomas Newcomen, an English inventor and a blacksmith by trade. Together with the tinsmith J. Cawley, he built a steam pump. In this installation, the engine is connected to the pump. Newcomen could not patent his invention, since the steam water-lifting device had been patented in 1698 by T. Savery, with whom Newcomen later collaborated. Newcomen’s steam engine was not a universal engine and could operate only as a pump. However, Newcomen’s merit lies in the fact that he was among the first to implement the idea of using steam to obtain mechanical work.
