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Can You Solve It? That Overlooked Netherlands Invention That Shaped our Modern Globe
There are many candidates for the designation as “planet’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that honor should go to the automated sawmill conceived through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before automated cutting, constructing a modest merchant vessel necessitated around ten lumberjacks laboring for 90 days,” writes the author. “With wind-driven sawmills, an identical amount of processed timber could be produced in less than a week.”
Thanks to this speedy automated saw, that turned logs to planks with almost no human effort, the Dutch could build vessels faster than any other nation, which unleashed a century of Dutch naval, economic and cultural supremacy in Europe and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues the writer, represented “mankind’s first true factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. A single part converted its rotary movement to up-and-down action for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning motion into a lateral movement feeding the timber to the blade. A geared mechanism moved the log forward a measured step per stroke.
“Every component was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to combine these parts in order that the machine acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting with each descending stroke while advancing with each return motion. This constituted an astonishingly clever use of basic components.”
A fact that leads us to the current challenge. The task is for you to reinvent one of the fundamental concepts behind this historic invention.
Round and Up
Construct a machine which converts rotary movement into up-and-down motion. Your available these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a base, so the components don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK time featuring the solution.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please propose (less celebrated) contenders for the world’s most impactful creation.
Richard Bautista
A professional blackjack strategist with over a decade of experience in casino gaming and player education.
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