Full Idea
The invention of steam engines occurred without a scientific theory; thermodynamics (of Carnot 1824) grew out of a desire to improve them. It eventually became a theory of energetic relations in all things.
Gist of Idea
The general theory of energy started with steam engines, followed by Carnot's theory of them
Source
Mazviita Chirimuuta (The Brain Abstracted [2024], 8.2)
A Reaction
I think Faradays generators and motors grew out of prior theory. She offers it as evidence that theoretical science is driven by technology, and not vice versa. She even rejects the whole idea of 'pure' science. I disagree. Cosmology?
Book Reference
Mazviita Chirimuuta: 'The Brain Abstracted' [MIT 2024], p.218