Can You Solve It? The Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Forged our Modern World
There are numerous contenders to claim the designation as “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, though, that title belongs to the automated timber mill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, constructing a simple trading ship required approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring for three months,” writes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured in less than a week.”
Owing to this speedy mechanical cutter, which converted timber into planks with almost no manual labor, the Dutch were able to build ships more quickly compared to anyone else, which unleashed a century of Netherlands maritime, economic and artistic supremacy across Europe and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues the writer, represented “mankind’s initial authentic factory apparatus.” A windmill rotated a wheel. One component converted the rotary motion to up-and-down action for the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same rotary motion into a lateral motion feeding the log to the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log forward a measured step per stroke.
“Each element was simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance lay in how to combine these parts so they acted within a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting with each downward stroke while moving on every return stroke. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent application of fundamental parts.”
Which brings us to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the basic ideas behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism that turns rotary motion to vertical action. You have these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the rods can slide snugly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so that the components don’t fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s greatest creation.
