Are You Able to Crack It? The Overlooked Netherlands Creation Which Forged the Modern World
There are numerous contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, however, that title should go to a automated sawmill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, building a simple trading ship necessitated around 10 lumberjacks laboring for 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, the same quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Thanks to their rapid mechanical saw, which converted logs to boards with almost no manual labor, the Dutch were able to build vessels faster than any other nation, an advantage that unleashed a century of Netherlands maritime, economic and cultural supremacy in the continent and the world.
The Original Genuine Industrial Device
The inventor's lumber mill, contends the writer, represented “humanity’s first authentic factory apparatus.” A windmill rotated a wheel. A single part converted the circular motion to vertical action to power the cutting blade. Another component transformed the rotary movement into a lateral movement advancing the log toward the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the wood ahead a measured step per stroke.
“Each element was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to combine these parts in order that the machine operated within a perfectly controlled order, cutting on every descending stroke and moving with each upward stroke. This constituted a remarkably clever use of basic parts.”
A fact that brings us to today’s challenge. I’d like for you to reimagine a key the basic concepts behind this historic invention.
Round and Up
Construct a mechanism which converts circular motion to vertical motion. Your available these items only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, that is a tube or sleeve through which a single the bars can slide snugly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so that the parts do not collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) candidates as the world’s most impactful invention.
