Can You Crack It? The Overlooked Netherlands Creation That Shaped the Modern Globe
There are numerous contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a new book, though, that title belongs to the mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, building a modest merchant vessel required approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven lumber mills, the same amount of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Thanks to their rapid mechanical saw, that turned timber to boards with almost no manual labor, Dutch builders could build vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic as well as cultural supremacy in Europe and the world.
The First Genuine Industrial Machine
The inventor's lumber mill, contends the writer, was “mankind’s initial true factory machine.” A wind turbine turned a gear. One component converted the rotary motion into up-and-down motion for the cutting blade. Another component changed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber toward the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood ahead a measured step each stroke.
“Each element was simple on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate these parts so they operated in a precisely synchronized order, sawing on every downward motion while advancing on every upward stroke. It was an astonishingly clever application of basic components.”
Which brings us to the current challenge. I’d like you to reimagine a key the basic ideas underpinning this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine which converts rotary motion into up-and-down action. Your available these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or housing into which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a base, so the components do not collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time with the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (less celebrated) contenders for the world’s most impactful invention.
