What is Thomas Newcomen?
[[File:Newcomen atmospheric engine animation.gif|frame|right|Animation of a schematic Newcomen steam engine.<br />&ndash; Steam is shown pink and water is blue.<br />&ndash; Valves move from open (green) to closed (red)]] '''Thomas Newcomen''' (February 1664 &ndash; 5 August 1729) was an English inventor.<ref name=Rolt>Rolt L.T.C. & Allen J.S. 1977. ''The steam engines of Thomas Newcomen''. 2 ed, Hartington: Moorland Publishing Company. {{ISBN|0-903485-42-7}}.</ref> He made the first practical steam engine for pumping water, the '''Newcomen steam engine'''. Newcomen was an [[ironmonger]] and a [[Baptist]] [[lay preacher]]. He was born in [[Dartmouth, Devon]], England, to a [[merchant]] family and [[baptised]] at St. Saviour's Church on 24 February 1664. Flooding in [[coal mine|coal]] and [[tin]] mines was a large problem. Newcomen was trying to improve ways to pump out the water from the mines. His ironmonger's business specialised in tools for the mining industry. His first engine was not very efficient, and used a lot of [[coal]]. The [[Watt steam engine]], was much more fuel efficient. [[James Watt|Watt]] and his partner [[Matthew Boulton]] got substantial [[royalties]] because their machines saved so much on fuel bills. ==Surviving Newcomen engines== There are examples of Newcomen engines in the [[Science Museum (London)]] and the [[The Henry Ford|Ford Museum]], [[Dearborn, Michigan]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Russell|first1=Ben|title=In pursuit of power|url=http://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/collections/2012/07/31/a-new-age/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324001519/http://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/collections/2012/07/31/a-new-age/|archive-date=24 March 2015|access-date=19 March 2015|website=sciencemuseum.org.uk}}</ref> Perhaps the last Newcomen-style engine to be used commercially – and the last still on its original site – is at the [[Elsecar Heritage Centre]], near [[Barnsley]] in [[South Yorkshire]]. Newcomen engines that can be seen working are the Newcomen Memorial Engin