<aside> 📄 Page 19
</aside>
Denis Papin invented a simple piston that using steam could lift weights on a pulley (this discovery would later evolve into the internal-combustion engine). He had a vision to apply this technology to boats. Something that would surpass the manpower of oars, but getting support was difficult. In 1708, he went to London to get support from the Royal Society. Headed by Sir Isaac Newton, his request fell on deaf ears because of his work with Gottfried Leibniz in the past. A friend of Papin’s, Leibniz, had a feud with Newton over who invented calculus. This association poisoned his reputation at the Royal Society. His reputation killed his dreams to build a steam boat and left him with little money to show for his work when he passed.