Jaquet Droz
Pierre Jaquet-Droz is a Neuchâtel watchmaker from the end of the 18th century.
He found a way to adapt a chime and flute stops to common clocks. He invented a clock which, by means of the combination of two unequally expandable metals, worked without being wound. He created an astronomical clock and an automaton which wrote legibly and made all the movements of the fingers.
He built several automatons with his son Henri-Louis Jaquet-Droz and Jean-Frédéric Leschot during the period from 1768 to 1774 including the writer (consisting of 6000 pieces), the musician (2500 pieces) and the designer (2000 pieces) .
Its astonishing mechanisms have fascinated the greatest in the world: the kings and emperors of Europe, China, India and Japan.
Some consider these automata to be the oldest examples of a calculator (or computer). The writer has an input device for positioning tabulators which forms a programmable memory, 40 cams which represent the read-only program, and an output pen. The work of Pierre Jaquet-Droz anticipated that of Charles Babbage by several decades.
Pierre Jaquet-Droz is a Neuchâtel watchmaker from the end of the 18th century.
He found a way to adapt a chime and flute stops to common clocks. He invented a clock which, by means of the combination of two unequally expandable metals, worked without being wound. He created an astronomical clock and an automaton which wrote legibly and made all the movements of the fingers.
He built several automatons with his son Henri-Louis Jaquet-Droz and Jean-Frédéric Leschot during the period from 1768 to 1774 including the writer (consisting of 6000 pieces), the musician (2500 pieces) and the designer (2000 pieces) .
Its astonishing mechanisms have fascinated the greatest in the world: the kings and emperors of Europe, China, India and Japan.
Some consider these automata to be the oldest examples of a calculator (or computer). The writer has an input device for positioning tabulators which forms a programmable memory, 40 cams which represent the read-only program, and an output pen. The work of Pierre Jaquet-Droz anticipated that of Charles Babbage by several decades.
