Can You Crack This? The Forgotten Netherlands Invention Which Forged the Modern Globe
One can find numerous candidates for the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, though, that honor belongs to the mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, building a simple merchant vessel necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks working over three months,” writes the author. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, an identical amount of processed timber might be manufactured in less than a week.”
Thanks to their speedy automated saw, that converted logs into boards using almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, which sparked a century of Dutch maritime, financial as well as artistic supremacy across the continent and the world.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “humanity’s first authentic industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. One component transformed the circular motion into up-and-down motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed that same rotary movement into a lateral movement advancing the timber to the blade. A ratchet system shifted the log ahead a measured step each stroke.
“Each element was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate these parts in order that they acted within a perfectly controlled order, cutting on every descending motion and moving with each upward stroke. This constituted a remarkably intelligent use of basic parts.”
Which leads us up to today’s challenge. I’d like you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas behind this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism which converts circular movement into vertical motion. You have these components only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume you can put things on a base, so that the components don’t collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time with the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to propose (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s greatest invention.
