Can You Solve It? The Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Forged the Contemporary World
One can find numerous contenders for the designation as “planet’s most significant invention.” The wheel. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that title should go to a mechanised timber mill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, constructing a simple merchant vessel necessitated around ten sawyers working over three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, the same quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to this speedy mechanical saw, which turned logs into boards using almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels faster compared to any other nation, an advantage that sparked a century of Netherlands maritime, economic and artistic supremacy across Europe and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues the writer, represented “mankind’s initial true factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. A single part transformed the circular movement into up-and-down motion to power the saw. Another component changed that same spinning motion into a lateral motion feeding the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood forward one precise increment per cycle.
“Every component seemed simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance lay in how to combine them so the machine acted in a precisely synchronized order, cutting with each descending stroke and advancing with each return motion. It was a remarkably clever application of basic parts.”
Which brings us up to today’s puzzle. The task is for you to reimagine one of the fundamental ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns rotary movement into up-and-down action. You have these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Consider that you can put things on a stand, so that the parts do not fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) contenders for the planet’s greatest creation.
