Can You Solve This? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation That Forged the Modern Globe
There are numerous candidates for the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a new book, though, that title should go to the automated sawmill conceived by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before automated cutting, constructing a modest merchant vessel necessitated around 10 lumberjacks working over three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven sawmills, the same quantity of processed timber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Thanks to their speedy mechanical saw, that turned logs to planks with virtually no human effort, the Dutch were able to build vessels faster than any other nation, an advantage that sparked a century of Dutch naval, economic and artistic supremacy in the continent and the world.
The First Genuine Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues Dávila, represented “humanity’s first true industrial machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. A single part converted the circular motion into vertical action to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same spinning motion into a lateral movement advancing the timber to the blade. A ratchet system shifted the wood forward a measured step each cycle.
“Every component was simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine them in order that they acted in a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing with each downward stroke while advancing with each upward motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental components.”
Which leads us up to today’s puzzle. The task is for you to reinvent a key the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine which converts rotary movement to up-and-down action. Your available these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, that is a tube or housing through which a single the rods will fit snugly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so the parts do not collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time featuring the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) candidates as the world’s greatest invention.
