Are You Able to Solve This? The Overlooked Netherlands Invention That Forged our Contemporary World
There are many contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that title belongs to the mechanised timber mill invented through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before automated sawing, building a modest trading ship necessitated around ten sawyers laboring over three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Thanks to this speedy mechanical cutter, which converted logs to boards using almost no human effort, the Dutch were able to build vessels faster than any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, financial as well as artistic dominance in Europe and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, represented “mankind’s initial true factory apparatus.” A windmill rotated a wheel. One component converted its circular motion to up-and-down motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same spinning motion into a lateral motion advancing the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood ahead one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element seemed simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate them so they acted within a precisely synchronized order, cutting with each descending motion and moving with each upward stroke. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent application of fundamental parts.”
Which leads us to the current challenge. The task is you to reinvent one of the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts circular motion into up-and-down motion. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or housing into which one of the rods can slide snugly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a base, so the parts do not fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (less celebrated) contenders for the world’s greatest invention.
