the Netherlands

the Netherlands is in my opinion the best country in the world.
Not all the Dutch people but it's good as a country.

In the Netherlands, you can just be whoever you want to be.
In general, the Netherlands is liberal.
Then what is liberal?
"Freedom for innocent citizens, as much freedom as possible
for each individual until the same freedom is used to restrict the freedom
of others."
So restricting a freedom is not easy in the Netherlands.
For example, the freedom to have peace at night.
Or the freedom to have fun during the day.
As long as others are not bothered by it.

Certain Dutch characteristics are of course the windmills.
The beautiful meadows, fields of flowers and the large amount of water.

But what are Dutch discoveries and inventions?

WaveLAN, the predecessor of Wi-Fi was presented in 1987 by a group of
Dutch engineers in Nieuwegein.

Blu-Ray, DVD and CD
Dutchman Kees Schouhamer Immink had come up with the design
where after conversations at Toshiba, a common
DVD world standard has been released.
In 1979, he participated as a member of Sony/Philips engineers
in the design of the CD.
In 1995, the DVD entered the market while this was also the year
of the design of the Blu-ray disc by Kees Schouhamer Immink and others.
It took a long time before the first Blu-ray was actually
for sale.
Because of the frequency, a blue beam came instead of a red beam.
The name Blue-Ray was there but that could not be used because Blue
already has an attributed meaning.
As a result, Blu-Ray was eventually chosen.

Variomatic - CVT
Van Doorne's Trailer (=Aanhangwagen) Factory or DAF
has put the first Dutch car with an automatic transmission on the market.
The type of automatic transmission is called a Variomatic which later became
known as a continuously variable transmission.
In 1958, Hub van Doorne introduced the variomatic transmission system
with belt drive.
The centrifugal force is influenced by weights and a vacuum valve
in such a way that maximum engine torque can be utilized.
In addition, acceleration is also fast.
The technique is still used today.
E.g. in propeller planes where continuous acceleration is highly desirable.

Airfryer
Fred van der Weij developed the technology of the air fryer.
Philips worked with him to create a product so that
consumers can also use an air fryer.
Namely, the Airfryer.
However, it was developed with Rapid Air technology from the USA
which also has a patent on that part of the technology.
the technology for the consumer market is the Dutch part.
It was also Philips who introduced it in 2010 at the
Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin. (Radio exhibition Berlin)
That's where the largest consumer electronics fair is held every year.
In an airfryer you can heat up all kinds of things.
E.g. baguettes and croissants but also spring rolls, french fries,
bitterballen, frikandellen and hamburgers.
the price of an Airfryer varies approximately
between €45,- , €80,- and €345,-
depending on the brand, the size and external luxury.

Van Leeuwenhoekmicroscoop
Dutchman Antoni van Leeuwenhoek developed the Van Leeuwenhoek microscope
in the 17th century.
Antoni managed to greatly improve the principle of the microscope.
After the improvement, Antoni managed to make several discoveries.
E.g. single-celled organisms, embryonic lice, bacteria in a pepper infusion and
moving and dead sperm.

Oocyte fertilization
Dutchman Jan Swammerdam knew how to put the principle of a microscope
to good use.
He was one of the first to actually prove that the male sperm cell
fertilizes the female egg.
Jan Swammerdam discovered red blood cells.
He also described the structure of the brain, lungs and spinal cord.

Planetarium
Eise Eisinga has built a Planetarium.
Not just any, but the oldest Planetarium that is still working.
In 1778 he showed the Planetarium to the public.
The Planetarium in Franeker is also declared by UNESCO
as a world heritage site.

Pendulum Clock
Christiaan Huygens discovered and meant a lot
in Dutch history.
Huygens is the inventor of the pendulum clock.
His brother Constantijn junior made
a 12-foot (4-meter) telescope.
In 1655, Christiaan Huygens discovered the Saturn moon Titan
and in 1666 Christiaan discovered the rings around Saturn.
In addition, Christiaan Huygens wrote about
the Wave Theory of light and studied the double refraction of light
in Icelandic crystal and was one of the
first science fiction authors about extraterrestrial life.

South sea works
The closing off of the Zuiderzee (south see) was carried out
largely according to the plans of Cornelis Lely.
In 1891, he designed the concept of a closing dike, a "afsluitdijk".
Construction began in 1927.
By 1932, the afsluitdijk was there and the sea became a lake.
the Ijsselmeer.
A lot has been named after Cornelis Lely.
the towns of Lelystad in Flevoland in the Netherlands
and Lelydorp in the Lely Mountains (Lelygebergte) in Suriname.
the road Cornelis Lelylaan in Amsterdam.
the Amsterdam Lelylaan train and subway station and
Cornelis Lelyplein station square.
there are also streets named after him in:
Amstelveen, Arnhem, Breda, Deventer,
Dordrecht, Ede, Franeker, Harderwijk,
Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Heemstede, Heerlen, Huizen,
Hulst, Kampen, Leek, Leiden,
Lelystad (de Lelybaan), Maarssen, Middenmeer, Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel,
Ridderkerk, Rijswijk, Scheveningen, Sliedrecht,
Terneuzen, Velsen, Vlissingen, Waalwijk,
Werkendam, Wolvega, Zutphen and Zwijndrecht.
the Lely pumping station in the Wieringermeer is also named after him.

Artificial kidney
The Dutch internist Willem Kolff developed the first successful artificial kidney
during World War II in Kampen.
April 4, 1943 was the first successful treatment with his artificial kidney.
He was able to help people with serious kidney disease with his artificial kidney.
Willem Kolff's development is the basis for subsequent kidney techniques.
Various forms of renal replacement therapy have been made possible as a result.
Through crowdfunding, NeoKidney has been granted market approval for a
portable artificial kidney.
NextKidney, the developer of the portable artificial kidney, is busy
speeding up the production process in collaboration with
Royal Cosun BV (Dinteloord), Euro Support BV (Uden) and the University of Sion, Switzerland.
The project has been delayed due to Covid-19, but the project is not at a standstill.

Fire pump
The Amsterdammers Pieck, Pomp and Van der Veere were granted a patent
for the fire pump in 1664.
The fire pump was manually operated with a lever in a tub.
A piston in the tub allowed the water to be pumped up through the lever
and sprayed out at a 45-degree angle.
In 1672, the famous Dutch painter Jan van der Heyden and his brother Nicolaas
improved the technique by means of a suction pump working through negative pressure.
They also added the possibility of adding fire hoses that allowed for more targeted extinguishing.
By adding an extra pressure vessel, the van der Heyden brothers obtained a patent in 1677.
Instead of dragging everything around, over time the possibility was added
to transport the pump and hoses on a cart.
The fire cart was pulled with horses followed by a steam engine
and combustion engine that evolved into a fire engine.
So when you see a fire engine driving, it is truly a Dutch invention.

Speed camera
Something that many Dutch people are not particularly proud of is the speed camera.
The speed camera is a Dutch invention.
A penalty often does not help if you do not recognize the mistake yourself.
Maurice (Maus) Gatsonides invented the speed camera in the late 1950s after World War II.
Gatsometer BV's product was called the gatsometer.
In 1958, the company Gatsometer BV was founded.
At that time, the gatsometer was used in racing and was not meant to punish.
There were two rubber hoses on the road.
At the first touch by a car tire a chronograph was triggered,
at the next hose the chronograph stopped.
By calculating time with distance, the speed could be recorded.
If you drive 90 km/h it takes you 1 second to travel 25 meters.
Over 10 meters at 90 km/h it takes 0.4 seconds.
At 30 km/h you do 1.2 seconds over 10 meters.
Nowadays a laser gun can measure up to 320 km/h.
In theory, a laser gun can measure more than 1 billion km/h but, among other things
due to the doppler effect, it does not record above 320 km/h.
The minimum distance at which it can be measured is 15 meters so that's a tough one with
88.89 meters per second.
In the Netherlands, measurements are made between 400 and 1000 meters.
So over 400 meters, the officer then has about 5 seconds to aim and
measure.
In 1966 was the first speed camera in the Netherlands.
Not for speed but for a red light in Delft, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands.

Turborotonde
The turborotonde (turbo roundabout) is an invention by Dutchman L.G.H. (Bertus) Fortuijn.
A turbo roundabout is a traffic circle in which a lane must be chosen before entering
the traffic circle.
By separating lanes, you can no longer turn left in the right lane
and no longer turn right in the left lane in left-hand countries.
Outside the Netherlands, there are not many turborotondes.
Just over 60% of all turborotondes in the world are in the Netherlands.

Python programming language
Guido van Rossum has developed the Python programming language that is used worldwide
on different platforms.
This website is written in PHP but in the background there are also several Python
programs running to automate parts like the sitemap.
Python works on Windows, Linux, Mac OS as well as on ARM architecture-based devices.
However, certain modules that are called may only work for one platform.
These include modules that call parts of the platform that are not
located on another platform. For example, Win32 in Windows and X11 in Linux.
However, it is often possible to write a program that works on both Windows and Linux.
Well-known apps that use Python include Duolingo, Facebook, Spotify, Instagram, Dropbox,
Pinterest and Netflix.
In addition, Python is also used at the scientific level to control robots
and display information statistically, among other things.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence also uses Python.
It is also used in traffic lights, lampposts, matrix signs and various
devices such as in robotic vacuum cleaners, robotic mowers and televisions.
Without Python, the world would look very different than it does today.

Stock exchange
In the year 1602, the world's first stock exchange was established in Amsterdam.
The Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC, United Dutch East India Company) then began
selling shares. A share makes you a co-owner on paper, giving you control and
also allowing you to benefit from the profits (dividends).
So citizens could buy shares in the VOC in 1602, and with that came the concept of
the joint-stock company. They could lose their stake, but were not liable for additional losses.
The VOC is considered the world's first joint-stock company.
In 1607 it was decided to establish a stock exchange building, and in 1611 Amsterdam's first
official stock exchange building opened its doors: the Beurs van Hendrick de Keyser.
This was the first stock exchange building where shares were traded structurally.
In practice, control at that time was still limited to the central board of the VOC,
the Heren XVII (the Lords XVII), but today the degree of control depends
on the number of shares a person owns.

Renewed bonds
Bonds have existed since the Middle Ages.
The Netherlands applied this means of financing in an innovative way.
A bond is a written proof that you lend money to a government
or institution, in exchange for interest.
Sometimes you get your deposit back, but in risky projects you can also lose it completely.
What made the Netherlands innovative was that bonds were voluntary and tradable.
In other countries, citizens were sometimes obliged to contribute to wars or repair costs.
In the Netherlands, people could voluntarily decide to lend money, for example to water boards.
A well-known example is the bond of the Hoogheemraadschap Lekdijk Bovendams (Utrecht) from 1593.
This is one of the oldest known voluntary perpetual bonds in the world.
Today, bonds are often used to finance risky projects.
The lender then receives an attractive interest rate, but also runs the risk
of losing his deposit if the project fails.
Water tax is now a mandatory levy used to pay for water management
such as managing water quality, environment and water resources.

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