Can You Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Shaped the Modern Globe
One can find numerous candidates for the title of “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, though, that title should go to a mechanised timber mill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, building a simple trading ship required around 10 sawyers laboring over three months,” writes the author. “With wind-powered lumber mills, an identical quantity of processed timber could be manufactured in less than a week.”
Thanks to their rapid mechanical saw, that turned logs to boards using almost no human effort, Dutch builders could construct ships more quickly compared to anyone else, which sparked one hundred years of Dutch maritime, financial and artistic dominance across the continent and the world.
The First Genuine Industrial Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “humanity’s initial authentic factory machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. One component transformed its circular movement into up-and-down action for the cutting blade. Another component transformed that same rotary motion into a lateral motion advancing the log toward the blade. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Each element was modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to integrate these parts so they acted within a precisely synchronized order, cutting on every downward stroke and moving with each upward motion. It was an astonishingly intelligent use of basic parts.”
Which leads us to the current challenge. I’d like you to reimagine one of the basic concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Design a machine that turns circular movement into up-and-down motion. You have these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the parts do not fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to propose (less celebrated) candidates for the planet’s greatest creation.
