Can You Solve It? The Overlooked Netherlands Invention Which Forged the Contemporary World
There are numerous candidates for the title of “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
As per a recent publication, however, that title should go to the automated sawmill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, constructing a modest trading ship required around 10 lumberjacks working for 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be produced in less than seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid mechanical cutter, which turned timber to planks using almost no human effort, the Dutch were able to build vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, which unleashed a century of Dutch naval, economic and artistic supremacy across Europe and the globe.
The First True Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues the writer, represented “mankind’s first true factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a gear. One component transformed the circular motion to vertical action for the cutting blade. Another component transformed the rotary movement into a sideway’s motion advancing the timber to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward one precise increment per cycle.
“Each element was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine them in order that they acted in a perfectly controlled order, sawing with each descending stroke and advancing on every return stroke. It was an astonishingly intelligent application of basic components.”
Which leads us up to today’s puzzle. The task is for you to reimagine one of the fundamental ideas underpinning this historic machine.
Round and Up
Construct a machine that turns rotary movement to up-and-down action. Your available these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a tube or sleeve into which one of the bars can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a base, so that the parts don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to propose (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s greatest invention.
