Which inventor developed the first practical steam turbine in 1884?

Charles Parsons developed the first practical steam turbine in 1884. His reaction turbine converted steam energy into rotary motion efficiently enough for useful mechanical and electrical power generation.

Parsons’s design used multiple stages of rotating and stationary blades. The gradual expansion of steam across these stages reduced energy losses compared with earlier turbine designs. In 1884, he built a turbine capable of driving a dynamo, demonstrating its value for electricity production.

The invention transformed power engineering. Steam turbines later became central to electrical generating stations and marine propulsion, including turbine-powered ships. Parsons also helped establish the modern turbine industry through his company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company.

Gustaf de Laval developed an earlier impulse turbine, but Parsons’s multistage reaction design was the breakthrough associated with practical large-scale power generation. James Watt, by contrast, is chiefly associated with major improvements to the separate-condenser steam engine.