History glossary
Steam engine
a heat engine that uses steam pressure to produce mechanical power.
- Category
- Industrial technology
What it means
Steam engines used steam pressure to produce mechanical power for pumps, machines, locomotives, and ships. Improved engines were central to mining, factories, railways, and transport during the Industrial Revolution.
Related terms
Stories using this term
The Opium Wars
From the Canton System to the fall of Beijing, the Opium Wars turned illegal trade, imperial power and Qing weakness into a new unequal treaty order.
The Meiji Restoration
From Tokugawa order to imperial restoration, conscription, industrialisation and military victory, the Meiji era transformed Japan into a modern imperial power.
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution began in Britain and spread globally, transforming economies, societies and everyday life through machines, factories and new energy sources.
