Can You Solve This? The Forgotten Dutch Creation That Forged the Contemporary World
There are numerous candidates for the designation as “planet’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, though, that title should go to a automated timber mill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, building a simple merchant vessel necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven sawmills, the same amount of cut lumber might be produced within a week.”
Owing to their speedy mechanical cutter, which converted logs into boards with almost no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct ships more quickly than any other nation, which sparked a century of Netherlands naval, economic as well as cultural dominance in Europe and the world.
The Original True Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s first true factory machine.” A windmill rotated a gear. One component transformed its circular movement to vertical motion to power the cutting blade. A separate mechanism changed the spinning motion into a lateral motion feeding the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood forward one precise increment each cycle.
“Every component seemed simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to integrate them in order that they acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each descending motion and moving on every return motion. It was an astonishingly intelligent use of basic parts.”
A fact that leads us up to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reimagine one of the fundamental ideas behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Construct a machine which converts circular movement into vertical motion. You have these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a tube or housing into which a single the rods will fit perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a base, so the components don’t fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time with the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) contenders as the planet’s greatest creation.
