Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Invention Which Forged our Modern World
One can find many contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, though, that honor should go to a automated sawmill conceived by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, building a simple merchant vessel required around ten lumberjacks working over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same quantity of cut lumber might be produced within seven days.”
Owing to their speedy automated saw, which converted logs to planks using virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders could build ships more quickly compared to any other nation, which sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, financial as well as cultural supremacy in the continent and the world.
The Original True Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues the writer, was “humanity’s first authentic industrial machine.” A windmill rotated a gear. One component converted the rotary movement into vertical motion to power the saw. Another component changed that same spinning movement into a lateral movement feeding the log to the blade. A geared mechanism moved the log ahead a measured step per stroke.
“Each element seemed modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine these parts in order that the machine acted within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing with each downward motion while advancing on every return motion. It was an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental parts.”
Which leads us to the current challenge. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the basic concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism that turns circular motion to vertical motion. You have these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a tube or sleeve into which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so the components do not collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the world’s greatest creation.
