A Spark of Revolution: William Small, Thomas Jefferson and James Watt

The story of William Small's life is exceptional in that it is as much a quest as it is a biography. Although Small had profound influences on Thomas Jefferson as his mentor and only professor, on James Watt as his promoter and collaborator on the steam-engine, on Matthew Boulton, as an advisor and partner to the first great industrial giant, and although he has been mentioned in past studies only as a fleeting and evanescent footnote scurrying off the bottom of the page, Small was something muc