Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Netherlands Creation That Shaped the Modern World
There are numerous candidates to claim the designation as “world’s most significant invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, however, that honor belongs to the mechanised timber mill conceived through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, building a simple trading ship necessitated around 10 lumberjacks working for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be produced in less than seven days.”
Owing to their rapid mechanical cutter, which converted logs into boards with virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct ships faster compared to any other nation, an advantage that sparked a century of Dutch maritime, financial as well as cultural dominance in the continent and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, was “humanity’s first authentic industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. One component converted the rotary motion to vertical motion for the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same spinning movement into a lateral motion advancing the log toward the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the wood forward one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element seemed simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius was to combine these parts in order that the machine operated within a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each descending stroke and moving on every upward motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental components.”
Which leads us up to today’s challenge. I’d like for you to reinvent one of the fundamental concepts behind this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine that turns rotary movement to vertical action. Your available these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve into which one of the rods can slide snugly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so that the parts don’t collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s most impactful creation.
