Are You Able to Crack This? The Forgotten Netherlands Invention Which Forged our Modern Globe
There are many candidates to claim the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, however, that title should go to a automated sawmill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before automated sawing, building a simple trading ship necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” notes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Thanks to their speedy automated saw, that turned timber to planks with virtually no manual labor, the Dutch were able to construct ships more quickly compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, financial and artistic supremacy in the continent and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues Dávila, was “mankind’s initial authentic factory machine.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part converted its rotary motion to up-and-down motion for the saw. Another component transformed that same spinning motion into a lateral movement advancing the log to the blade. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead one precise increment per cycle.
“Every component was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to combine them so they acted in a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting with each downward stroke and moving with each return stroke. This constituted an astonishingly clever application of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us to today’s challenge. The task is for you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Design a machine that turns rotary motion into up-and-down action. Your available these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a tube or housing through which one of the rods can slide snugly. (Assume you can put things on a base, so the components don’t fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK featuring the answer.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to propose (less celebrated) contenders for the world’s greatest invention.
