Are You Able to Solve It? The Overlooked Dutch Invention That Shaped our Modern Globe
There are numerous candidates to claim the title of “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, though, that honor belongs to a mechanised timber mill conceived through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before automated cutting, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated around 10 lumberjacks laboring over three months,” writes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, the same quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid mechanical saw, that turned timber to planks with virtually no manual labor, the Dutch could construct ships more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Netherlands maritime, financial as well as cultural dominance across Europe and the world.
The Original True Industrial Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “humanity’s first authentic industrial machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. One component converted its circular motion into up-and-down action for the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same rotary motion into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber toward the cutter. A ratchet system moved the log ahead a measured step each cycle.
“Every component seemed simple on its own. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to integrate them in order that they operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting on every downward motion while advancing with each return stroke. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental parts.”
Which brings us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine which converts rotary movement into up-and-down action. Your available these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or housing into which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Assume you can put things on a stand, so the parts don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK with the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) candidates for the world’s most impactful creation.
