Can You Solve It? That Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Shaped the Modern Globe
One can find many contenders to claim the title of “world’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, though, that honor should go to a automated sawmill conceived by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, building a simple trading ship required around 10 lumberjacks working for three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven sawmills, an identical amount of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to their rapid mechanical cutter, that converted timber to boards using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders could build ships faster than any other nation, which unleashed a century of Netherlands maritime, financial and cultural dominance across the continent and the world.
The First True Industrial Machine
The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, was “mankind’s initial true industrial machine.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part converted its rotary motion into vertical motion to power the cutting blade. Another component changed that same spinning motion into a lateral movement advancing the log toward the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to integrate these parts so they operated within a perfectly controlled order, sawing on every descending stroke while advancing on every upward motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent use of basic parts.”
A fact that leads us up to today’s challenge. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the basic ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Construct a mechanism that turns rotary motion into vertical motion. You have these components only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a tube or sleeve into which a single the rods can slide snugly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the parts don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to propose (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s most impactful creation.
