Can You Crack This? The Overlooked Netherlands Invention That Shaped the Modern World
One can find numerous candidates to claim the designation as “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, though, that title belongs to a mechanised sawmill invented through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, building a simple trading ship necessitated approximately ten lumberjacks working over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, the same amount of cut lumber could be produced in less than seven days.”
Owing to this speedy automated cutter, which converted timber to boards using almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly than anyone else, which unleashed one hundred years of Netherlands maritime, economic and artistic supremacy in the continent and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's lumber mill, argues the writer, was “humanity’s initial authentic factory apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. One component transformed the circular movement to up-and-down action for the saw. Another component transformed the rotary motion into a sideway’s movement advancing the log toward the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the wood forward a measured step per stroke.
“Each element seemed simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine these parts so the machine operated within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every descending motion while advancing with each return motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent application of basic components.”
A fact that leads us to the current challenge. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the basic ideas behind this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine that turns rotary movement into up-and-down action. You have these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a tube or sleeve through which one of the bars will fit snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a stand, so the components don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates as the world’s most impactful invention.
