Are You Able to Crack This? That Forgotten Dutch Invention That Shaped our Contemporary World
There are numerous contenders to claim the title of “planet’s most significant invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a new book, however, that honor should go to a mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, constructing a simple trading ship required approximately ten sawyers working for 90 days,” notes the author. “With wind-powered sawmills, an identical quantity of processed timber could be produced in less than a week.”
Owing to this rapid mechanical saw, which converted timber into boards with virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly than anyone else, an advantage that unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, financial and artistic supremacy across the continent and the world.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, represented “humanity’s first authentic industrial machine.” A windmill turned a wheel. A single part transformed its circular movement into vertical action for the cutting blade. Another component transformed that same spinning motion into a lateral motion feeding the log to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood ahead a measured step per stroke.
“Each element was modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine them so the machine operated within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting on every descending motion and moving with each return stroke. This constituted a remarkably clever use of fundamental components.”
Which brings us to the current challenge. I’d like for you to reimagine one of the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism which converts rotary movement to up-and-down motion. You have these items only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or housing into which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a base, so that the components don’t collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK with the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s greatest invention.
