Can You Crack It? That Forgotten Dutch Creation That Shaped the Contemporary Globe
One can find numerous contenders to claim the designation as “world’s most significant invention.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a new book, however, that title should go to a mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, building a simple trading ship necessitated around 10 sawyers working for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured within a week.”
Thanks to this rapid mechanical saw, which converted logs into boards using virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels faster than any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic as well as artistic dominance across the continent and the globe.
The First Genuine Industrial Device
The inventor's sawmill, contends the writer, was “mankind’s initial true factory machine.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part converted its circular movement to up-and-down motion to power the cutting blade. Another component transformed the spinning movement into a sideway’s movement feeding the log to the blade. A geared mechanism moved the log ahead one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element seemed modest by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate these parts in order that they acted within a precisely synchronized order, cutting on every downward motion while moving with each upward stroke. It was a remarkably clever use of basic components.”
Which brings us to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reimagine one of the fundamental ideas underpinning this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine that turns rotary movement into vertical action. Your available these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a tube or sleeve into which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a stand, so that the components do not fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK time with the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (less celebrated) candidates for the planet’s greatest creation.
