Can You Solve This? The Overlooked Netherlands Invention That Forged our Modern Globe
One can find many candidates to claim the title of “world’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a new book, though, that title belongs to a mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before automated cutting, constructing a simple trading ship required around 10 sawyers working for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, the same amount of cut lumber might be produced within a week.”
Thanks to their rapid automated cutter, which converted logs into boards with almost no human effort, the Dutch could build vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Netherlands naval, financial and artistic supremacy across Europe and the globe.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues the writer, represented “mankind’s initial true factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a gear. One component transformed its rotary movement into up-and-down action for the saw. Another component changed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s movement feeding the log toward the blade. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead one precise increment per stroke.
“Each element was simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine them in order that they acted within a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting on every descending motion and advancing with each upward motion. It was a remarkably intelligent use of basic components.”
Which brings us up to the current challenge. The task is for you to reinvent a key the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns circular motion into up-and-down action. You have these items only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the components don’t fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates as the world’s most impactful creation.
