Can You Solve It? That Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Shaped the Modern World
One can find many candidates to claim the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, however, that honor should go to the mechanised sawmill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, building a simple trading ship required approximately ten lumberjacks working for 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-driven sawmills, the same quantity of cut lumber might be produced within a week.”
Thanks to this speedy automated cutter, that converted timber to boards with almost no manual labor, the Dutch were able to build ships more quickly compared to any other nation, which sparked one hundred years of Dutch maritime, financial and cultural supremacy in Europe and the world.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “mankind’s first authentic factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component transformed its circular motion to vertical action to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed the spinning motion into a sideway’s movement advancing the timber to the blade. A ratchet system shifted the wood forward one precise increment each cycle.
“Every component seemed simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine these parts so they acted within a precisely synchronized order, cutting on every descending motion while moving on every return motion. This constituted a remarkably clever application of fundamental parts.”
A fact that brings us up to the current challenge. I’d like you to reimagine one of the basic concepts underpinning this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine which converts rotary motion to vertical action. Your available these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a base, so that the components don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the planet’s greatest invention.
