Watt's This?

artwork by Andy Lee

19 January is the birthday of James Watt, Greenock's most famous son - and certainly someone whose life and work had a transformative impact on the world as we know it. And he came from our town.

We were delighted this week to stumble across the James Watt 2015-19 Celebration Project, which is celebrating Watt's life and the invention of the separate condenser in the lead up to 2019, which is the 250th Anniversary of the patent and the bicentenary of Watt's death. It was especially pleasing, because the project was making the direct connection with Greenock and Watt, a part of the story which is often forgotten or lightly airbrushed out. You can follow the project on twitter #Watt250

Watt has always been an inspiration to us, though we have also had a bit of fun with how we remember him. The fake steampunky comic cover above was designed for our Tales of the Oak comic of 2012, and imagines what might have happened if Watt had gone off the rails and started working for the military...I like how you can see Victoria tower in the background.

James Watt also features in my new children's book, The Superpower Project, along with one of his more unusual inventions. The Superpower Project is published by Floris Books (Kelpies) and will be out on February 18th.