Are You Able to Crack This? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation That Shaped our Contemporary Globe
There are numerous candidates to claim the title of “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a new book, though, that honor belongs to the automated sawmill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a modest merchant vessel required around 10 sawyers working over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, an identical quantity of processed timber could be produced within seven days.”
Owing to their rapid automated saw, that converted timber to planks using almost no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, which unleashed a century of Dutch maritime, economic as well as cultural supremacy across the continent and the world.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues Dávila, was “humanity’s initial true industrial apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component converted its circular movement to vertical action for the cutting blade. Another component transformed that same spinning motion into a lateral movement advancing the log toward the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log forward a measured step per cycle.
“Every component seemed simple by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate these parts in order that they operated within a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting on every descending stroke and moving with each return stroke. This constituted a remarkably intelligent application of fundamental parts.”
A fact that brings us up to the current challenge. The task is for you to reimagine a key the fundamental ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns circular motion to vertical motion. You have these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve through which a single the bars will fit snugly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the components do not fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (less celebrated) contenders for the planet’s greatest invention.