Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Creation That Shaped the Contemporary World
One can find numerous contenders for the title of “world’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a new book, though, that honor should go to a mechanised timber mill conceived by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, building a modest trading ship required approximately 10 lumberjacks working over three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, an identical amount of processed timber might be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to their speedy mechanical saw, that turned logs into planks with almost no manual labor, the Dutch could construct ships more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that unleashed a century of Netherlands maritime, financial and artistic supremacy across the continent and the globe.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, was “humanity’s first true factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. One component transformed the circular motion to up-and-down motion for the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning motion into a sideway’s motion advancing the log to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log forward a measured step per stroke.
“Every component seemed modest by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to combine these parts so they operated within a perfectly controlled order, sawing on every descending motion and moving on every return stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent application of basic components.”
A fact that brings us up to the current challenge. The task is you to reimagine a key the basic ideas underpinning this historic invention.
Round and Up
Design a machine that turns rotary motion into up-and-down motion. You have these components only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the bars can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the parts don’t collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s greatest creation.
