Responsible for the generation of most of the world's electricity, and with applications to sea and land transport, the steam turbine may be regarded as a pivotal invention in the creation of a technologically advanced modern society. Charles Parsons (1854 1931) built the first practical steam turbine in 1884, and he remained at the forefront of its development for nearly fifty years, as he saw his invention become first the prime means by which thermal energy could be turned into electricity, and then the power behind pioneering cruise liners and warships. Alexander Richardson (1864 1928),...