Can You Crack This? That Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Shaped the Modern World
There are many contenders to claim the title of “world’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that honor belongs to a mechanised timber mill conceived through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before automated sawing, constructing a simple trading ship required approximately ten sawyers laboring for 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, an identical amount of processed timber might be manufactured in less than a week.”
Owing to their rapid mechanical saw, which converted timber to boards with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build ships more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that sparked a century of Netherlands naval, financial and cultural dominance in the continent and the globe.
The First Genuine Industrial Device
The inventor's sawmill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s first true industrial machine.” A windmill turned a wheel. A single part transformed the circular movement into vertical action to power the cutting blade. Another component changed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s movement feeding the log to the blade. A ratchet system moved the log forward one precise increment each stroke.
“Every component was simple on its own. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to combine them in order that they acted in a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing with each downward motion while advancing with each upward stroke. It was an astonishingly clever use of basic components.”
Which leads us to today’s challenge. The task is for you to reinvent one of the basic concepts behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Construct a machine that turns circular movement into vertical action. You have these components only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or housing through which one of the bars can slide snugly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a stand, so the parts don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) candidates for the world’s greatest creation.
