Can You Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Invention Which Shaped the Modern Globe
One can find numerous contenders for the designation as “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, however, that title belongs to the mechanised timber mill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated around 10 sawyers working over three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of processed timber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Thanks to their speedy mechanical cutter, that converted logs into boards using almost no human effort, the Dutch could construct vessels more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, financial and cultural supremacy in Europe and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s first true factory machine.” A windmill rotated a gear. A single part transformed its rotary motion into vertical action to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood forward one precise increment per cycle.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to combine these parts in order that the machine operated within a precisely synchronized order, sawing on every descending motion and moving on every return motion. It was an astonishingly intelligent application of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us to the current puzzle. I’d like you to reinvent a key the basic ideas underpinning this historic invention.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts rotary motion into up-and-down action. You have these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the components don’t fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to suggest (non obvious) candidates as the world’s greatest creation.
