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Are You Able to Solve It? The Forgotten Dutch Invention That Shaped the Contemporary World
There are numerous contenders to claim the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that honor should go to a automated sawmill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before automated cutting, constructing a modest merchant vessel necessitated approximately ten lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, an identical amount of cut lumber might be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to their rapid mechanical saw, that converted logs to boards using almost no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct ships faster compared to anyone else, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch maritime, economic as well as artistic dominance in Europe and the world.
The First Genuine Industrial Device
The inventor's sawmill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s initial true industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a gear. A single part converted its circular motion into vertical motion for the cutting blade. Another component changed the rotary motion into a sideway’s movement advancing the timber toward the blade. A ratchet system moved the log ahead one precise increment per cycle.
“Every component seemed simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate these parts so the machine acted in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each downward motion while moving on every return motion. It was a remarkably intelligent use of fundamental parts.”
Which leads us up to today’s challenge. The task is you to reinvent a key the basic ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Design a machine that turns rotary movement to vertical action. You have these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or housing through which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so that the parts do not collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) contenders for the planet’s greatest invention.
Jennifer Stephens
A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in online casinos, specializing in strategy and player safety.
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