Can You Solve This? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation That Forged the Contemporary Globe
One can find numerous contenders for the title of “world’s most significant invention.” The wheel. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, though, that honor belongs to the automated timber mill conceived by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, building a modest trading ship necessitated approximately 10 sawyers laboring for 90 days,” writes the author. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be produced in less than seven days.”
Thanks to their speedy automated cutter, which turned logs to boards with almost no manual labor, the Dutch were able to build vessels more quickly than anyone else, an advantage that unleashed a century of Dutch maritime, financial and artistic supremacy across the continent and the world.
The Original True Industrial Device
The inventor's sawmill, argues Dávila, was “mankind’s initial authentic factory apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. A single part transformed the circular movement into up-and-down motion for the saw. Another component changed the rotary motion into a lateral motion advancing the log toward the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log forward a measured step each cycle.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance lay in how to integrate these parts in order that they acted within a precisely synchronized order, cutting with each downward stroke while advancing with each return motion. This constituted a remarkably clever application of basic components.”
Which leads us to the current challenge. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism which converts circular motion to vertical action. You have these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or housing into which a single the bars can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so that the components do not collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to suggest (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s greatest invention.
