Papin's steam engine demonstration. Illustration of French physicist and engineer Denis Papin (1647-1712) demonstrating his steam engine in 1688 at the University of Marburg (where he was Professor of Mathematics from 1688 to 1695). Papin worked in England, France and Germany. In 1679 he invented the steam digester, an early type of pressure cooker. Papin's designs were not successful as he could not machine his components well enough. Artwork from 'Chaudieres et Machines a Vapeur' (1911) by French civil engineer Max de Nansouty (1854-1913), part of the 'Les merveilles de la science' series of 1867-1891 by Louis Figuier.