« Traceable
to antiquity, the idea of feedback roared to prominence in the 18th century when
the Scottish engineer James Watt figured out how to harness the mighty but
irregular power of steam. Watt’s steam governor solved the problem of wasted
fuel by feeding the machine’s speed back into the apparatus to control it. When
the machine ran too fast, the governor reduced the amount of steam fed to the engine.
And when it slowed down, the governor could increase the flow of steam to keep
the machine’s speed steady. The steam governor drove the Industrial Revolution
by making steam power newly efficient and much more potent. Because it could
maintain a relatively stable speed, Watt’s steam engine used up to one-third
less energy than previous steam-powered engines. »
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