I had absolutely no idea there were so many watchmakers that were great inventors. But there are many time pieces which are works of engineering marvel.
Yes, it is true, those works are engineering beauties. Maybe the intricate nature of working so close to all of those cogs inspired them to think about solving other real world problems. I have long been fascinated with time and the human invention of measuring it.
I will look for more watchmaker examples. I read ?Boorsteins? Discoverers, it had a long chapter on the discovery of time as a human invention
I know that book well, the first chapter starts with "The first discovery was time." Great reminder.