Who invented the original steam engine?
Thomas Savery
Although steam-driven devices were known as early as the aeolipile in the first century AD, with a few other uses recorded in the 16th and 17th century, Thomas Savery is considered the inventor of the first commercially used steam powered device, a steam pump that used steam pressure operating directly on the water.
Did James Watt invent the steam engine?
James Watt did not invent the steam engine. He did, however, improve the engine apparatus. In 1764 Watt observed a flaw in the Newcomen steam engine: it wasted a lot of steam. Watt deduced that the waste resulted from the steam engine’s single-cylinder design.