Can You Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Invention Which Forged the Modern World
There are many contenders to claim the title of “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a new book, however, that title should go to a automated sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, constructing a simple merchant vessel necessitated around ten sawyers working over three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered lumber mills, the same quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured within seven days.”
Owing to their rapid automated saw, which converted logs to planks with virtually no manual labor, the Dutch were able to construct ships faster than any other nation, which unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, economic and cultural supremacy in the continent and the world.
The First Genuine Industrial Device
The inventor's sawmill, contends the writer, was “mankind’s first authentic industrial apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component transformed its rotary motion into vertical motion for the saw. Another component changed the rotary movement into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber toward the cutter. A ratchet system moved the log ahead one precise increment per cycle.
“Each element seemed simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine these parts so the machine acted within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing with each descending stroke and moving on every return motion. It was a remarkably intelligent application of basic components.”
Which leads us to today’s challenge. The task is you to reimagine one of the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Design a machine that turns rotary motion into vertical motion. Your available these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or housing into which one of the bars will fit snugly. (Consider that you can mount components on a stand, so the components don’t collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the planet’s greatest invention.
