Are You Able to Solve It? That Overlooked Netherlands Creation Which Shaped our Modern World
One can find many contenders to claim the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, however, that title belongs to the mechanised timber mill conceived by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated around 10 lumberjacks working for 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be produced within a week.”
Thanks to their rapid mechanical cutter, that converted timber to boards using virtually no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, economic as well as artistic supremacy in the continent and the world.
The First True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, was “mankind’s initial authentic industrial apparatus.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part converted its rotary motion to vertical action to power the saw. Another component transformed that same rotary movement into a lateral motion feeding the log to the blade. A ratchet system moved the log ahead one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element was simple on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to integrate them in order that the machine operated within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting with each descending stroke while moving with each upward motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental parts.”
Which brings us to today’s challenge. The task is you to reimagine a key the fundamental ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism that turns circular movement to vertical action. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a base, so that the components don’t collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please suggest (less celebrated) contenders for the planet’s most impactful invention.
