Are You Able to Solve This? That Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Shaped our Contemporary World
There are numerous contenders to claim the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
As per a recent publication, however, that title should go to a mechanised timber mill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before automated cutting, constructing a simple trading ship required approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” writes the author. “With wind-powered lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be produced within seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid mechanical cutter, that converted timber to planks using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build ships faster than any other nation, an advantage that unleashed a century of Dutch maritime, financial as well as artistic dominance in Europe and the globe.
The Original Genuine Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, represented “mankind’s first true industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a gear. One component converted the rotary motion into vertical motion to power the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning motion into a sideway’s movement advancing the log to the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the log forward one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element was simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to combine them so the machine acted in a precisely synchronized order, cutting with each downward motion and advancing with each return motion. This constituted an astonishingly clever application of basic components.”
Which leads us up to the current challenge. I’d like for you to reimagine a key the fundamental ideas underpinning this historic invention.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts rotary movement to up-and-down motion. Your available these items only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so the parts do not fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) contenders as the planet’s greatest invention.
