Can You Solve It? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation That Forged our Modern World
There are many contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor belongs to a mechanised timber mill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, building a modest merchant vessel required approximately ten sawyers working for three months,” notes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, the same quantity of cut lumber could be produced in less than seven days.”
Owing to this speedy automated cutter, which turned logs to boards using almost no manual labor, the Dutch could construct ships faster than anyone else, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Dutch maritime, financial as well as artistic dominance in the continent and the world.
The First Genuine Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “humanity’s first authentic industrial machine.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part converted its rotary movement to up-and-down motion to power the cutting blade. Another component changed that same rotary motion into a lateral movement feeding the log to the blade. A ratchet system moved the log forward one precise increment per stroke.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine these parts in order that they operated within a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing on every downward motion while advancing on every return stroke. It was a remarkably clever application of fundamental parts.”
A fact that leads us up to the current puzzle. I’d like you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism that turns rotary motion to up-and-down motion. You have these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve through which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so the parts do not collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the world’s greatest invention.
