Can You Solve It? The Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Shaped the Modern Globe
There are numerous candidates for the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a new book, though, that honor belongs to a mechanised sawmill invented through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, building a simple merchant vessel necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, an identical amount of processed timber might be manufactured within seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid automated saw, which converted timber into planks using almost no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly than any other nation, which unleashed one hundred years of Dutch maritime, financial and cultural dominance across the continent and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends Dávila, was “mankind’s first authentic industrial machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. A single part transformed its rotary motion to up-and-down motion to power the saw. Another component changed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the timber to the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward a measured step per cycle.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine them in order that they acted in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each descending motion while advancing on every upward stroke. It was an astonishingly intelligent use of basic components.”
Which brings us to today’s challenge. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns circular motion to up-and-down action. You have these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or housing through which one of the bars will fit snugly. (Consider that you can put things on a stand, so that the parts don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (less celebrated) contenders as the planet’s most impactful invention.
