Can You Solve It? That Overlooked Netherlands Creation Which Shaped the Contemporary World
One can find numerous contenders to claim the title of “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor belongs to the automated timber mill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, building a modest trading ship necessitated approximately ten sawyers working for three months,” notes the author. “Using wind-powered sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to this speedy automated saw, which converted timber to boards using almost no human effort, the Dutch could construct ships more quickly compared to any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Dutch maritime, economic as well as artistic supremacy across the continent and the globe.
The Original True Industrial Machine
The inventor's sawmill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s first true industrial machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. A single part transformed the rotary motion to up-and-down action to power the cutting blade. Another component transformed the rotary motion into a sideway’s movement advancing the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the log ahead one precise increment each stroke.
“Every component was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate these parts so the machine acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting with each descending stroke while advancing with each return motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent application of basic components.”
Which leads us up to the current puzzle. The task is for you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine that turns circular motion into up-and-down motion. Your available these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or housing through which a single the rods will fit snugly. (Consider that you can put things on a base, so the components do not collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time with the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (non obvious) contenders as the world’s most impactful invention.
