Are You Able to Solve This? That Overlooked Netherlands Creation Which Shaped our Modern Globe
There are numerous candidates for the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a new book, however, that honor should go to the automated sawmill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before automated cutting, building a simple merchant vessel required approximately 10 sawyers laboring over three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured in less than a week.”
Thanks to their rapid automated saw, which converted timber to boards with virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels faster than any other nation, an advantage that unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, financial as well as artistic dominance in the continent and the globe.
The Original True Industrial Machine
The inventor's lumber mill, contends the writer, was “humanity’s first authentic factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part transformed its rotary motion to vertical action for the cutting blade. Another component changed the spinning movement into a lateral motion advancing the log toward the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the wood forward one precise increment each cycle.
“Every component was simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate them in order that the machine acted within a precisely synchronized order, cutting on every descending stroke while moving on every return motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent use of basic components.”
Which brings us up to today’s challenge. I’d like for you to reimagine one of the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Construct a mechanism which converts rotary movement into up-and-down motion. You have these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve through which a single the bars will fit perfectly. (Consider that you can mount components on a base, so that the parts do not collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK with the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (less celebrated) candidates for the planet’s greatest invention.
