Can You Solve This? The Forgotten Dutch Creation That Forged the Contemporary Globe
There are numerous contenders for the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a new book, however, that title belongs to a automated timber mill conceived by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, building a simple merchant vessel required approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring for 90 days,” notes the author. “With wind-powered lumber mills, an identical amount of processed timber might be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Thanks to their rapid mechanical saw, that turned timber into planks with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, which sparked a century of Netherlands naval, economic as well as cultural supremacy in the continent and the world.
The Original Genuine Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends Dávila, represented “humanity’s initial authentic industrial machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. A single part converted its rotary motion into up-and-down action to power the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning movement into a sideway’s motion advancing the log toward the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log forward a measured step each stroke.
“Each element seemed simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to combine these parts in order that they operated in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each downward stroke and advancing on every upward motion. This constituted a remarkably clever application of fundamental components.”
Which leads us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reinvent one of the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine which converts circular movement to up-and-down action. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so the components do not fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK with the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to propose (non obvious) candidates for the planet’s most impactful invention.
