How did the steam engine change society?

Answer 1

The first steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcome, he created a machine that could keep the power of compressed steam. it was used to pump water out of mines. James Watt created a better version. it was more efficient, practical, and it produced more power with little waste. it was used to pump water out of mines but later was adapted to drive machines. this solved the problem of powering the factory age.

source: crossroads : a meeting of nations textbook

Answer 2

The steam engine was pretty much the very first, relatively mobile method of applying non-human power to work. Before that, if you wanted to move something or hoist something or run a machine, you did it by hand, or perhaps by hooking an ox or a horse to it. Steam engines were far more powerful than any horse, would run day and night without being fed (other than wood..) and tended to make life a little bit easier. Steam engines powered locomotives, early automobiles, machinery, and much more. Until the development of the internal combustion engine late in the 19th Century, the steam engine was the motive force behind mankind's progress.