Editing James Watt (section)

===Watt and the kettle===
There is a popular story that Watt was inspired to invent the steam engine by seeing a kettle boiling, the steam forcing the lid to rise and thus showing Watt the power of steam. This story is told in many forms; in some Watt is a young lad, in others he is older, sometimes it's his mother's kettle, sometimes his aunt's, suggesting that it may be apocryphal. In any event, Watt did not ''invent'' the steam engine, but significantly ''improved the efficiency'' of the existing [[Newcomen atmospheric engine|Newcomen engine]] by adding a [[Watt steam engine#Separate condenser|separate condenser]], consistent with the now-familiar principles of [[thermal efficiency]]. The story was possibly created by Watt's son, [[James Watt junior|James Watt, Jr.]], who was determined to preserve and embellish his father's legacy.<ref>{{cite journal |title=True Myths: James Watt's Kettle, His Condenser, and His Chemistry |last=Miller |first=D. P. |journal=[[History of Science (journal)|History of Science]] |year=2004 |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=333–360 [p. 334] |doi=10.1177/007327530404200304 |bibcode=2004HisSc..42..333M |s2cid=161722497 }}</ref> In this light, it can be seen as akin to the story of [[Isaac Newton#Apple incident|Isaac Newton and the falling apple]] and his discovery of [[gravity]].

Although likely a myth, the story of Watt and the kettle has a basis in fact. In trying to understand the [[thermodynamics]] of heat and steam, James Watt carried out many laboratory experiments and his diaries record that in conducting these, he used a kettle as a [[boiler]] to generate steam.<ref>{{cite book |title=Science and Technology in the Industrial Revolution |first1=A. E. |last1=Musson |first2=Eric |last2=Robinson |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1969 |page=80 }}</ref>