Can You Crack It? That Forgotten Dutch Invention Which Forged the Contemporary World
One can find numerous contenders to claim the designation as “world’s most significant invention.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor belongs to a mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated approximately ten sawyers working over three months,” notes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, the same quantity of processed timber might be produced within seven days.”
Owing to this rapid automated saw, that converted logs into planks with virtually no human effort, Dutch builders could build vessels faster than anyone else, an advantage that unleashed a century of Netherlands maritime, economic as well as artistic supremacy in Europe and the world.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s initial authentic factory machine.” A windmill turned a gear. One component transformed its rotary motion to vertical action to power the cutting blade. A separate mechanism changed the rotary movement into a lateral movement feeding the log to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood ahead one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to combine these parts so the machine acted in a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every descending stroke while moving with each return stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent application of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us up to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reimagine a key the basic ideas behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts circular movement to up-and-down motion. Your available these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or housing into which a single the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so the parts don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK time featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) candidates for the world’s most impactful invention.
