Can You Solve This? The Overlooked Netherlands Invention That Forged our Contemporary Globe
There are many contenders to claim the title of “planet’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, though, that honor should go to the mechanised sawmill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, building a simple trading ship required approximately ten sawyers laboring over three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, the same quantity of processed timber could be produced in less than a week.”
Owing to their rapid automated cutter, that turned logs to boards with virtually no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct vessels more quickly compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked a century of Dutch naval, economic as well as cultural supremacy across the continent and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s initial true factory machine.” A wind turbine turned a gear. One component transformed the circular motion into up-and-down motion to power the cutting blade. Another component transformed that same spinning motion into a lateral movement feeding the log toward the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the wood forward one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to integrate these parts in order that they operated in a perfectly controlled order, cutting on every descending motion and moving with each return stroke. This constituted a remarkably clever application of basic components.”
Which brings us up to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Construct a mechanism which converts circular motion into vertical motion. You have these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the bars can slide perfectly. (Consider that you can put things on a base, so the components do not fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s greatest invention.
