Are You Able to Solve This? The Overlooked Netherlands Invention Which Forged our Modern Globe
One can find many candidates for the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a new book, though, that title should go to a automated sawmill conceived by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a simple trading ship necessitated around 10 sawyers working for three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of cut lumber might be manufactured within a week.”
Thanks to their speedy mechanical saw, that converted timber to boards using almost no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct ships more quickly compared to anyone else, which sparked a century of Dutch maritime, economic as well as cultural dominance across the continent and the globe.
The First True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, contends the writer, represented “mankind’s initial true industrial machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. One component converted its rotary motion into up-and-down action to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed that same rotary movement into a lateral movement advancing the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate them in order that they acted within a precisely synchronized order, sawing on every descending stroke while moving with each upward motion. It was a remarkably intelligent use of basic components.”
Which leads us to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent one of the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Design a machine which converts circular motion to up-and-down action. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve through which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume you can put things on a stand, so the parts do not collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to suggest (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s most impactful invention.
