Are You Able to Solve It? The Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Forged our Modern World
One can find many candidates to claim the designation as “planet’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor should go to a automated sawmill invented through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, constructing a modest trading ship required approximately ten lumberjacks laboring for three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of cut lumber might be produced in less than seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid mechanical saw, that converted timber to planks with virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly than any other nation, which unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, financial and cultural supremacy across the continent and the globe.
The First True Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues the writer, represented “mankind’s initial true industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. A single part converted the circular motion to vertical action for the saw. Another component changed the spinning motion into a lateral motion advancing the timber to the blade. A ratchet system moved the log forward one precise increment each stroke.
“Every component was simple by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to integrate these parts so they acted within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing with each downward stroke and advancing with each return stroke. This constituted a remarkably intelligent use of basic components.”
A fact that leads us up to the current puzzle. The task is for you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism which converts rotary movement to up-and-down action. Your available 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. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the components don’t collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK with the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s most impactful invention.