Are You Able to Crack This? That Overlooked Netherlands Creation Which Shaped the Modern Globe
There are numerous contenders for the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor should go to a automated sawmill conceived by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before automated sawing, constructing a modest merchant vessel required around 10 lumberjacks laboring for three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, an identical amount of processed timber might be produced within seven days.”
Owing to this speedy mechanical saw, which turned timber into boards with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly compared to anyone else, which sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, financial and artistic supremacy in the continent and the globe.
The First Genuine Industrial Machine
The inventor's sawmill, argues Dávila, represented “humanity’s initial authentic industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part transformed the circular movement to up-and-down action for the saw. Another component transformed that same rotary motion into a sideway’s motion advancing the timber to the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the log ahead one precise increment per cycle.
“Each element seemed simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to integrate these parts in order that the machine acted within a perfectly controlled order, sawing on every downward stroke while moving on every return stroke. It was a remarkably clever application of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us up to today’s challenge. I’d like for you to reimagine one of the fundamental concepts behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Design a machine which converts rotary movement to up-and-down motion. You have these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or housing through which one of the bars will fit snugly. (Consider that you can put things on a stand, so that the components do not fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) contenders as the planet’s greatest invention.