Can You Solve This? That Overlooked Netherlands Invention Which Forged the Contemporary World
There are many contenders to claim the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a new book, though, that honor belongs to a automated sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated around ten sawyers laboring over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, the same amount of cut lumber could be produced within a week.”
Owing to this rapid automated saw, which turned logs to boards using virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct ships more quickly compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked a century of Netherlands naval, economic and cultural dominance in the continent and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “mankind’s initial authentic industrial machine.” A windmill rotated a wheel. One component converted its rotary movement into up-and-down action for the cutting blade. Another component changed the spinning movement into a lateral movement feeding the log toward the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward one precise increment per cycle.
“Each element was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate these parts so the machine operated within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing with each descending stroke and advancing with each upward motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental components.”
Which brings us up to today’s puzzle. The task is for you to reinvent a key the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Design a machine which converts circular motion into up-and-down action. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a tube or sleeve into which a single the bars can slide snugly. (Consider that you can mount components on a stand, so that the parts don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time with the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) contenders for the world’s most impactful invention.
