Tulips & Windmills

Saw this post on Reddit:

Still going strong from Netherlands

I love this.  Many Americans relate the Dutch to tulips and windmills, but mostly we don't think about it enough to understand why.  The Dutch have a saying that I love; "God made the world, but the Dutch made The Netherlands".  Windmills were their way of doing it.

The Dutch people have a long history of building dikes around flooded areas, and using windmills to pump the water out of the now enclosed area.  The canals crisscross the country, carrying all the water out to the sea.

I love learning about amazing feats of engineering like this that have been done with very primitive technology.  Intelligence, determination, cooperation, and a lot of hard work made it possible, and still seem to permeate the Dutch culture.  Now the Dutch export their water management expertise to countries around the world who are struggling with problems from sea level rise, while continuing to innovate in water management at home...