Are You Able to Solve It? That Overlooked Netherlands Invention Which Forged our Modern Globe
One can find many candidates to claim the designation as “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor belongs to a mechanised sawmill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, building a simple merchant vessel required approximately 10 sawyers laboring over three months,” notes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, the same amount of cut lumber could be produced within seven days.”
Owing to this speedy automated cutter, that converted timber to boards with virtually no human effort, Dutch builders could construct vessels faster compared to anyone else, an advantage that unleashed a century of Dutch naval, economic as well as cultural supremacy across the continent and the world.
The First True Industrial Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “mankind’s first authentic factory machine.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component converted its rotary motion into vertical action for the saw. Another component transformed that same spinning movement into a lateral movement advancing the log to the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the wood ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to integrate them so the machine operated within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting on every descending motion while moving on every return stroke. It was a remarkably clever application of basic components.”
A fact that leads us to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the fundamental concepts behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts rotary motion into vertical action. You have these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the rods will fit perfectly. (Consider that you can put things on a base, so the components don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s most impactful invention.
