Bento de Moura Portugal
Bento de Moura Portugal was a Portuguese aristocrat, a Knight of the Order of Christ, and a scientist best known for his improvements to Thomas Savery's steam engine. He was an early supporter of Newtonian science and became known as the Portuguese Newton.Life
Moura Portugal was born in Moimenta da Serra, Portugal. In 1741 he was elected to the Royal Society in London.
In 1742 he demonstrated his improved steam engine, based on that of Thomas Savery, to the Portuguese court in Lisbon. In 1747 he was tried and found guilty of proposições heréticas e escandalosas for the assembly of such "fire machines" by the Inquisition, and spent the rest of his life going gradually insane in Junqueira Prison in Lisbon.
