Denis Papin - The Steam Engine Inventor

Guides of London
Apr 5
2 min read

Denis Papin was born in France in 1647. By 1673, he was in London & working with Robert Boyle. Boyle was a lot of things but today is most probably best known for Boyle's law, which describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system.

It was during this time that Papin invented the steam digester. Its purpose was to extract fats from bones by creating a high-pressure steam environment. The process made the bones brittle enough to be ground down so the bone marrow could be removed. This device can be seen as the precursor to the pressure cooking, the steam engine & the centrifugal pump.

Papin would leave London to work in Marburg (in modern Germany) where he developed another steam engine as well as having a ship constructed that was powered by hand-cranked paddles. The ship was later destroyed by the boatmen of Munden who feared the device would destroy their livelihood.

By 1707, he had returned to London & even though some of his papers were presented to the Royal Society, he was not acknowledged for his work, nor paid for it. By 1712, he was destitute & did not live to see the year out. He was rumoured to have been buried in an unmarked grave, but evidence was found that he was in fact laid to rest in St Brides Church on Fleet Street. The 26th of August listed on this plaque, found in the church was erected in 2016. It most probably lists the date on which he was buried, but not his actual death date.