Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué (1776–1856) was the author of the third
astronomical clock
An astronomical clock, horologium, or orloj is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets.
Definition ...
of
Strasbourg Cathedral
Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', ), also known as Strasbourg Minster (church), Minster (), is a Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Although considerable parts of ...
, built between 1838 and 1843 (not 1842, as it is written on the clock itself).
In 1844 Schwilgué, together with his son Charles, patented a key-driven calculating machine,
which seems to be the third key-driven machine in the world, after that of
Luigi Torchi (1834) and James White (1822).
[Roegel, Denis. "Before Torchi and Schwilgué, There Was White." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 38.4 (2016): 92-93.](_blank)
/ref>
He produced a number of clocks for church towers, of which the only one still functioning in Strasbourg is that of Saint Aurelia’s Church, Strasbourg. He was born and died in the same place, Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
.
Gallery
File:Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué-Buste (1).JPG, Bust of Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué
File:Freiburg Minster clockwork by Schwilgué (1851).JPG, Clockwork of the Freiburg Minster (1851)
Notes
References
*Henri Bach, Jean-Pierre Rieb, Robert Wilhelm: ''Les trois horloges astronomiques de la cathédrale de Strasbourg'', 1992.
*Charles Schwilgué: ''Notice sur la vie, les travaux et les ouvrages de mon père J. B. Schwilgué, ingénieur-mécanicien, officier de la Légion d'honneur, créateur de l'horloge astronomique de la Cathédrale de Strasbourg, etc.'', 1857.
*Alfred Ungerer, Théodore Ungerer: ''L'horloge astronomique de la cathédrale de Strasbourg'', 1922.
External links
The Calculating Machine of Schwilgué
at sit
History of Computers and Computing
French clockmakers
Engineers from Strasbourg
1776 births
1856 deaths
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