Isaac Adams (August 16, 1802 – July 19, 1883) was an American inventor and politician.

He served in the Massachusetts Senate and invented the Adams Power Press, which revolutionized the printing industry.

His son, Isaac Adams Jr., invented the first commercial process for nickel electroplating.

Afterward he learned the trade of cabinet maker, but in 1824 went to Boston and sought work in a machine shop.

With his brother Seth, a noted sugar refiner, Adams engaged in the manufacture of printing presses, sugar mills, steam engines (stationary and marine), steam boilers and other machines, and formed the company I.