Essay On Oliver Evans

Aside from Benjamin Franklin, Oliver Evans could perhaps be considered as one of the most prolific inventors in American history. Throughout his life, Evans would go on to invent vapor compression refrigeration, various textile machinery, and perhaps his longest lasting invention, the high-pressure steam engine. His design would be used in locomotives that would become crucial to both the American and global Industrial Revolutions. Evans was born in 1755. Coincidentally, this was the same year that Josiah Hornblower built the first steam engine in what would become the United States. It was the very invention Evans would rise to improve upon. He was a millwright by choice and blood, but it is clear to see that his strides in science and engineering
took him far beyond what a run of the mill(wright) would normally go. Before learning to harness the power of steam, Evans was just another factory worker in a textile mill. He soon grew weary of the monotonous, repetitive motions of the textile plant, which lead him to creating his first invention: a machine that creates the wooden teeth required to comb through wool at a rate much higher than any human could accomplish. Soon after in 1782, Evans and his brothers bought their family’s farm from their father.
The process of milling and grinding grain to make flour was a long, labor-intensives, and dirty one. Evans, recognizing the opportunity to make grain milling more efficient, created what was essentially the first modern assembly line. A number of mechanisms in a row that were controlled by one worker and could do the work of five. This revolutionized the production and milling of grain, making the ordeal much more efficient and cost-effective. We often think of Henry Ford as the father of the assembly line, but it seems Oliver Evans beat him to the punch. Like all important historically scientific advancements, Evans became interested in the concept of the steam engine from a joke told to him by his brother. It involved the son of a blacksmith who used water, as opposed to gunpowder, as a propellant to load his gun. The boy then stuck the end of the gun into the blacksmith’s fire, and the shot rang out just as loud as it would have had he used gunpowder. While I’m sure this was funny at the time - don’t ask me how - it was the catalyst needed to get Evans’ interested in what would become his greatest contribution to American
industry. Steam engines had been around since before Evans was born. They were large, inefficient, clunky things of English design. There were several different parts that went into its operation that made it useful for factories and things of the like, but too cumbersome for use in a vehicle. Here is where Evans saw room for improvement. After several unsuccessful attempts to acquire a steam-powered wagon, Evans became fed up with the bureaucracy of invention. He decided to take matters into his own hands and develop a completely new steam-powered engine. The improvements made would remove what Evans thought were unnecessary additions to the mechanism. For instance, instead of including a steam condenser that had been seen on previous models, Evans allowed the full force of steam fill the engine and power the pistons. The removal of the condenser resulted in a far smaller version of a steam engine, small enough to fit inside of and successfully power a vehicle.