Can You Solve This? The Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Shaped the Modern World
One can find numerous contenders for the title of “world’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that title should go to the automated sawmill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, constructing a simple trading ship necessitated approximately 10 sawyers laboring over 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-driven sawmills, the same amount of processed timber could be manufactured within a week.”
Owing to their speedy mechanical saw, which turned timber into planks using almost no human effort, Dutch builders could build ships faster than anyone else, which sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, economic as well as cultural supremacy in Europe and the world.
The First Genuine Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues the writer, represented “humanity’s initial true factory apparatus.” A windmill rotated a wheel. A single part transformed the circular motion into vertical action for the saw. A separate mechanism transformed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s motion feeding the log to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log ahead a measured step per stroke.
“Every component was simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine these parts in order that the machine operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting on every downward stroke while moving on every upward motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent use of basic components.”
A fact that brings us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reimagine a key the fundamental ideas behind this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine which converts rotary movement to vertical motion. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve into which a single the rods will fit perfectly. (Consider that you can put things on a base, so the components do not fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK time with the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) contenders as the world’s most impactful creation.
