Can You Solve It? The Overlooked Dutch Invention That Forged the Modern Globe
There are numerous candidates for the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, though, that title should go to a mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before automated sawing, constructing a simple merchant vessel necessitated around 10 sawyers laboring over three months,” writes the author. “Using wind-driven sawmills, an identical quantity of processed timber might be manufactured within a week.”
Thanks to their speedy mechanical cutter, that turned logs into boards using virtually no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct ships faster compared to any other nation, which sparked a century of Netherlands naval, economic as well as artistic dominance across Europe and the globe.
The Original True Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues Dávila, was “humanity’s initial authentic industrial machine.” A windmill rotated a wheel. One component converted the circular motion into up-and-down action for the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the rotary motion into a lateral motion advancing the log toward the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the log ahead a measured step each stroke.
“Each element was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine these parts so the machine operated within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every downward stroke while advancing on every upward stroke. It was a remarkably clever application of basic components.”
Which leads us to today’s puzzle. The task is you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts behind this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine which converts rotary motion into vertical motion. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a tube or sleeve through which one of the bars can slide snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so that the parts do not fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) contenders as the planet’s most impactful invention.
