30 january 1736 19 january 1736 os 25 august 1819 was a scottish inventor mechanical engineer and chemist who improved on thomas newcomens 1712 newcomen steam engine with his watt steam engine in 1776 which was fundamental to the changes brought by the industrial revolution in both his native great britain and the rest of the world. Because of his contributions to science and industry the watt a unit of power in the international system of units was named for him.