Talk:Passage (Bujold novel)

steam power & the 18th century
The passage in the third paragraph reads "The core of the novel is set on a flatboat, patterned on craft used in the middle 19th century..." I do believe steam power was well established by the end of the eighteenth century. Watt, the purported inventor of the first practical steam engine died in 1819, the first steam engine was used in 1775 so I believe the passage should read "...used in the middle of the 18th century..." William (Bill) Bean (talk) 19:13, 10 January 2011 (UTC)