Cornelis Van Haarlem (1550 - 1607)
In 1550, Cornelis Corneliszoon van Uitgeest was born in Holland in Uitgeest. He was a poor farmer to which helped him in his greatest invention that was related to the sawing of timber. Previously sawing wood was difficult and a time consuming job, because is was done mostly with manual labor. The greatest advantage of this new invention was that it made it possible to saw timber using wind energy. It became possible to saw large amounts of timber in a shorter amount of time. Boards and beams could be sawn, and these could be used for shipbuilding. The enormous growth of shipbuilding in The Netherlands, specifically in Zaan District, is in thanks to this invention. The Zaan District was Europe's first industrial area and the production increased by 3,000%. The production of timber by hand for 60 beams or trunks was 120 working days but the production of the sawmill for 60 beams or trunks was 45 working days. It is predicted that the died shortly before 1607.