Are You Able to Solve This? The Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Shaped the Contemporary Globe
There are many contenders to claim the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a new book, though, that honor belongs to a mechanised timber mill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, building a simple trading ship necessitated around ten sawyers laboring for three months,” notes the author. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of cut lumber could be produced in less than seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid mechanical saw, that converted timber to planks using almost no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct ships more quickly compared to anyone else, which sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, financial and artistic supremacy across Europe and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues Dávila, represented “mankind’s first authentic factory apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a gear. One component transformed its circular motion to vertical motion to power the cutting blade. Another component transformed the spinning movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the log to the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the wood ahead one precise increment per stroke.
“Every component seemed simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to combine these parts in order that they operated within a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each descending stroke and advancing with each return stroke. It was an astonishingly intelligent application of basic parts.”
Which brings us to the current challenge. I’d like you to reinvent a key the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine which converts rotary motion to up-and-down action. You have these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a tube or sleeve into which one of the bars will fit snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so that the components don’t fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK with the solution.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates as the world’s most impactful invention.
