Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Creation That Forged our Modern World
There are many contenders for the designation as “planet’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, though, that title belongs to a mechanised timber mill conceived by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a simple merchant vessel required approximately ten sawyers working over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than a week.”
Thanks to this speedy mechanical cutter, which turned timber into boards using virtually no manual labor, the Dutch were able to construct ships more quickly than anyone else, which sparked a century of Dutch naval, financial as well as cultural supremacy in the continent and the globe.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “humanity’s first authentic industrial machine.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component converted the rotary motion into vertical motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed the rotary movement into a sideway’s movement feeding the timber to the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the wood forward a measured step each stroke.
“Each element was simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate them so the machine operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing on every descending stroke while advancing with each upward motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent use of basic parts.”
Which brings us to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reimagine a key the fundamental ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Construct a mechanism that turns circular motion to vertical action. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a tube or sleeve through which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a base, so that the parts don’t fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (less celebrated) candidates for the world’s most impactful creation.
