There are many contenders for the title of “world's greatest invention.” Wheel. Printing press. Steam engine.
However, according to a new book, that title should go to the mechanized sawmill, invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before the advent of mechanized sawing, building a modest merchant vessel required about ten lumberjacks working for three months,” writes Jaime Dávila in Forgotten. “With windmills, the same amount of processed wood could be produced in less than a week.”
Thanks to their fast power saw, which turned logs into planks with little or no human effort, the Dutch were able to build ships faster than anyone else, marking the beginning of a century of Dutch maritime, economic, and cultural dominance in Europe and the world.
Cornelisun's sawmill, Davila claims, was “mankind's first true industrial machine.” The windmill turned the wheel. One component converted the rotational motion into an up and down motion of the cutting blade. Another component converts the rotational motion into a lateral motion that feeds the log onto the blade. The ratcheting system moved the log forward one precise increment per cycle.
“Each element was modest on its own. Cornelisun's genius was to combine them so that they acted in a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting each downstroke and moving forward on each return stroke. It was an amazingly intelligent use of the basic components.”
This brings us to today's mystery. I would like you to reinvent one of the basic ideas of the Cornelizun machine.
Round and up
Design a machine that converts rotary motion into up and down motion. You only have these items: Spinning Disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume you can put things on a stand to prevent components from falling.)
I'll be back at 5pm UK time with a solution.
However, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (non-obvious) candidates for the world's greatest invention.
Forgotten: how one man discovered the modern world Jaime Davila published December 18th.
I've been doing puzzles here on Mondays since 2015. I'm always on the lookout for great puzzles. If you would like to offer one, write to me.
