Anton Braun
When in 1724 the German mechanic Anton Braun (1686-1728) got an appointment as a mechanic and optician of the imperial court in Vienna, Austria, he started to design a calculating machine for the purposes of the court. Braun finished his work in 1727, producing a calculating machine of very good..Read More
Hillerin de Boistissandeau
In 1735 was published the first book of six volume set of Jean Gaffin Gallon—Machines et inventions approuvées par l’Academie Royale des Sciences, depuis son établissment jusqu’a présent; avec leur description, in which are described several calculating machines. In one of the books (Tome 4) was described the machine arithmetique..Read More
Jacques de Vaucanson
Jacques de Vaucanson (1709-1782) was a great French engineer and one of the significant inventors of the 18th century, who is primarily credited with creating the world’s first “true” robots in the early 1730s, as well as for creating the first completely automated loom, and the first all-metal lathe in..Read More
Christian Ludwig Gersten
In 1735 Christian Ludwig Gersten (1701-1762), a professor of mathematics at the University of Gießen, traveled to London, to be elected a fellow of the Royal Society and to present to the Society his project of an arithmetical machine. In his description, he claims, that the machine had been designed..Read More
Pierre Jaquet-Droz
Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-1790) was a celebrated Swiss watchmaker and mechanic from the 18th century, known for his elaborate watches and mechanical devices, three of which are of particular interest in the context of this site—the humanoid automata the Writer, the Draftsman, and the Musician. ierre Jaquet-Droz was born in 1721..Read More
Friedrich von Knaus
Friedrich von Knaus(s) (1724-1789), was a German watchmaker, mechanic, and inventor, who built clockwork mechanisms that could, in a simple way, play musical instruments, write short phrases, or conduct other individual, specialized tasks. It is believed, that namely, Knaus created the first writing automaton. howing his capabilities at an early..Read More
Jewna Jakobson
The mechanical calculating machine of the Jewish clock-maker and jeweler Jewna Jakobson was created around 1770 in the town of Nieswiez on the territory of former Lithuania, then the Russian Empire, Poland, USSR, and now in Belarus. A significant part of the population of Nieswiez was Jewish at that time..Read More
Philipp Matthäus Hahn
In 1770 the Württemberg pastor, astronomer, engineer, and entrepreneur Philipp Matthäus Hahn turned his attention to the creation of calculating machines, devising a simple calculation device (so-called Rechentrommel – calculation drum), then an adding device, and finally a more elaborate cylindrical calculating machine. The first two devices were not so..Read More
Charles Stanhope
The British statesman and versatile scientist Charles Stanhope, Viscount Mahon, was a very strange peer—a full of temperament man with enormous mental energies, voice, and earnestness, who devoted a large part of his time and income not to pleasures and parties, but to experiments, science, and philosophy. nterestingly, in the..Read More