The Power of Five to Seven Thousand Horses

By Jason Z., Age 14

The invention of the steam engine made it significantly easier to transport people and goods. Before the invention of the steam engine people used animals for transportation because they were the only way besides on foot. In 1679 an ingenious man, Denis Papin, crafted a pressure cooker. He watched as steam raised the lid off the pot, and it led to the idea of James Watt’s wondrous steam engine. To generate steam to power the engine, water was boiled with fire. The steam caused the pistons, which were connected to the wheels, to move up and down. Today steam engines are very efficient and can be as powerful as five thousand to seven thousand horses.