Pierre Jaquet-Droz
Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721–1790) was a Swiss-born watchmaker of the late eighteenth century. He lived in Paris, London, and Geneva, where he designed and built animated dolls, or automata, to help his firm sell watches and mechanical birds.
Constructed between 1768 and 1774 by Pierre Jaquet-Droz, his son Henri-Louis (1752-1791), and Jean-Frédéric Leschot (1746-1824) were The Writer (made of 6000 pieces), The Musician (2500 pieces), and The Draughtsman (2000 pieces).
His astonishing mechanisms fascinated the kings and emperors of Europe, China, India, and Japan.
Some consider these devices to be the oldest examples of the computer. The Writer has an input device to set tabs that form a programmable memory, 40 cams that represent the read-only programme, and a quill pen for output. The work of Pierre Jaquet-Droz predates that of Charles Babbage by decades.
The automata of Jaquet-Droz are also considered to be some of the finest examples of human mechanical problem solving. Three particularly complex and still functional dolls, now known as the Jaquet-Droz automata, are housed at the art and history museum in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
He once constructed a clock which was capable of the following surprising movements:There were seen on it a negro, a dog, and a shepherd; when the clock struck, the shepherd played six tunes on his flute, and the dog approached and fawned upon him. This clock was exhibited to the King of Spain, who was delighted with it. "The gentleness of my dog," said Droz, "is his least merit; if your Majesty touch one of the apples, which you see in the shepherd's basket, you will admire the fidelity of this animal." The King took an apple, and the dog flew at his hand, and barked so loud, that the King's dog, which was in the room, began also to bark; at this the Courtiers, not doubting that it was an affair of witchcraft, hastily left the room, crossing themselves as they went out. The minister of Marine was the only one that ventured to stay. The king having desired him to ask the negro what o'clock it was, the minister obeyed, but he obtained no reply. Droz then observed, that the negro had not yet learned Spanish.[1]
Bibliography
- Perregaux, Charles, Les Jaquet-Droz et leurs automates, Neuchâtel, 1906
- Perregaux, Charles et Perrot, François-Louis, Les Jaquet-Droz et Leschot, Neuchâtel, 1916
- Chapuis, Alfred et Gélis, Edouard, Le monde des automates, Paris, 1928
- Chapuis, Alfred et Droz, Edmond, Les automates, figures artificielles d'hommes et d'animaux, Neuchâtel, 1949
- Maingot, Eliane, Les automates, Paris, 1959
- Carrera, Roland, Loiseau, Dominique et Olivier Roux, Androïdes. Les automates Jaquet-Droz, Lausanne, 1979
- Beaune, Jean-Claude, L'automate et ses mobiles, Paris, 1980
- Tissot, André, Voyage de Pierre Jaquet-Droz à la Cour du Roi d'Espagne 1758-1759, Neuchâtel, 1982
- Beyer, Annette, Faszienierende Welt der Automaten, Munich, 1983
- Collectif, The Cyborg Handbook, London, 1995
- Vanden Berghe, Marc, Henri-Louis Jaquet-Droz et Pierre Jaquet-Droz in Biographies Neuchâteloises, tome I, *Hauterive, Attinger, 1996
- Collectif, Die Androïden: zur Poetologie des Automaten, Bern, Peter Lang, 1996 (contributions in German en French. English summaries)
See also
References
- ↑ "The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 275, September 29, 1827, by Various". Gutenberg.org. 2004-03-01. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pierre Jaquet-Droz. |
- Montres Jaquet-Droz
- Story of the Jaquet-Droz androids, virtual museum and DVD
- Jaquet-Droz
- Jaquet-Droz androids video in Youtube
- Was this automaton the world's first computer? Incredible mechanical boy built 240 years ago who could actually write Daily Mail, November 6, 2013, "The Writer" created by watchmaker Pierre Jaquet-Droz in the 1770s. Large color photos.
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