I always wondered what the effect of these in absolute time is. Consider: if someone had come up with a viable steam engine in the year 1000 or so, how would that have change the course of history?
Also, the piston and cylinder (which came later) were derived from canon-making technology, so that had to come first too.
PS 1: If you can remember how to spell "acoup", it's the harder part.
PS 2: IIRC he only (mostly?) post about those topics, not about random old stuff, because it's his expertise area.
This argument is repeated often, but I don't think it's really true. Both Savery and Newcomen's engines were initially aimed at evacuating flooded metal mines and not coal mines.
"A few Savery pumps were tried in mines, an unsuccessful attempt being made to use one to clear water from a pool called Broad Waters in Wednesbury (then in Staffordshire) and nearby coal mines."