The Newcomen Society is a British learned society formed to foster the study of the history of engineering and technology (although British, it is interested in any aspect of the history of engineering, regardless of the location or time period). It was founded in London in 1920 and takes its name from Thomas Newcomen, one of the inventors associated with the early development of the steam engine, who is widely considered the Father of the Industrial Revolution. The Society is based at the Science Museum in London (there are also regional branches in Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Bristol and Portsmouth), and is concerned with all branches of engineering: civil, mechanical, electrical, structural, aeronautical, marine, chemical and manufacturing as well as biography and invention. It publishes the Transactions of the Newcomen Society as well as occasional extra publications. An American branch was established in 1923, but the Newcomen Society of the United States is now entirely separate from its UK counterpart.
Notable Society Members
- L. T. C. Rolt
- Hugh Pembroke Vowles
- Rex Wailes
- Paul Wilson, Baron Wilson of High Wray (President, 1973 to 1975)
