Age of Steam
Steam was first applied to boats in the 1770s. With the advent of economical steam engines, efficient external combustion heat engines that makes use of the heat energy that exists in steam and converting it to mechanical work, the prime mover was steam for ships. The technology only became relevant to trans-oceanic travel after 1815, the year Pierre Andriel crossed the English Channel aboard the steam ship Élise.
Read more about this topic: Maritime History
Famous quotes containing the words age of, age and/or steam:
“Come now, what masques, what dances shall we have
To wear away this long age of three hours
Between our after-supper and bedtime?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Each of the professions means a prejudice. The necessity for a career forces every one to take sides. We live in the age of the overworked, and the under-educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“Wisely watch for the sight
Of the supernova burgeoning over the barn,
Lampshine blurred in the steam of beasts, the spirit’s right
Oasis, light incarnate.”
—Richard Wilbur (b. 1921)