Pierre Jaquet-Droz belongs to the record of technology as a figure whose work outlasted the moment that produced it.
The record lists Pierre Jaquet-Droz as watchmaker from the Principality of Neuchâtel(1721-1790).
Pierre Jaquet-Droz was born at La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1721. His recorded nationality is the Kingdom of Prussia.
The eighteenth century organised knowledge into academies, expeditions and collections, and turned patronage into something closer to a profession.
He worked as watchmaker and mechanical automaton engineer.
His principal work is Jaquet-Droz automata. Technology is judged by adoption: an invention nobody uses is a curiosity.
His recorded fields of work are horology and music box.
That the work was done from the Kingdom of Prussia matters. Opportunity has never been evenly distributed, and where a person is based shapes which doors open and whose work gets seen.
Pierre Jaquet-Droz died in 1790, aged 69. What survives is the work, which is the only durable form of a reputation.
Achievements
- Notable work: Jaquet-Droz automata
- Worked as watchmaker and mechanical automaton engineer
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