Can You Solve It? That Overlooked Dutch Invention Which Forged the Modern World
One can find many candidates for the designation as “planet’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, however, that title should go to a automated sawmill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a modest merchant vessel required around ten sawyers working for 90 days,” writes the author. “With wind-powered lumber mills, an identical amount of cut lumber might be produced within a week.”
Owing to this rapid mechanical saw, which turned timber to boards with almost no human effort, Dutch builders could construct vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch maritime, financial as well as cultural supremacy across Europe and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s initial authentic factory apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a gear. One component transformed the circular motion to up-and-down action for the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the rotary movement into a lateral movement feeding the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log ahead one precise increment per stroke.
“Every component was simple by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to integrate them so they acted in a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting on every downward stroke while advancing on every upward stroke. This constituted a remarkably clever application of basic parts.”
Which leads us to today’s puzzle. The task is you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Construct a mechanism which converts circular motion to up-and-down action. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a tube or sleeve through which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume you can mount components on a stand, so the parts don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to propose (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s most impactful creation.
