Are You Able to Solve This? The Overlooked Netherlands Creation Which Shaped our Contemporary Globe
There are numerous contenders to claim the designation as “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a new book, however, that title should go to the mechanised sawmill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, building a simple trading ship required around ten lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be produced within seven days.”
Thanks to their speedy automated saw, which converted logs to planks using almost no human effort, Dutch builders could construct vessels faster than any other nation, which sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, financial as well as artistic dominance across the continent and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends Dávila, was “humanity’s first authentic factory apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. One component converted its circular motion into vertical action to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s motion advancing the timber toward the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Every component was simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to integrate them in order that the machine acted within a perfectly controlled order, cutting on every downward motion and moving with each upward stroke. This constituted a remarkably intelligent use of basic components.”
Which brings us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Construct a mechanism that turns rotary motion to vertical action. You have these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or housing into which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Assume you can put things on a base, so that the components don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK featuring the answer.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to propose (less celebrated) candidates for the planet’s greatest invention.
