The career of this erratic genius is an extraordinary story. The son of a Cornish mine captain, Trevithick single-handed totally changed the unwieldy steam engines of Newcome and Watt to efficient prime movers with many applications, inventing in the process a vast range of widely differing machines, from high-pressure engines to the world's first railway locomotive. His immense physical strength was legendary; he could write his name on a beam six feet from the floor with half a hundredweight hanging from his thumb. Yet his strength was nothing compared to his mental energy and...