Can You Solve It? The Forgotten Dutch Invention That Shaped the Contemporary Globe
One can find numerous contenders to claim the title of “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a new book, however, that honor should go to a mechanised timber mill conceived through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, building a modest merchant vessel required approximately 10 lumberjacks working over 90 days,” writes the author. “With wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of processed timber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to their speedy mechanical cutter, which turned timber into boards using virtually no manual labor, the Dutch could construct vessels more quickly compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked a century of Dutch maritime, economic as well as cultural dominance in the continent and the world.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, was “humanity’s first authentic industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part transformed the circular movement to vertical motion for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism changed that same spinning motion into a lateral motion feeding the timber toward the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward a measured step each stroke.
“Each element was simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to integrate these parts so they acted in a precisely synchronized order, cutting with each descending motion and moving with each return motion. It was a remarkably intelligent use of basic components.”
A fact that leads us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reimagine one of the basic ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine which converts rotary motion into up-and-down action. Your available these components only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve through which a single the rods will fit snugly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the components don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK with the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the world’s most impactful creation.
