Can You Solve It? The Overlooked Dutch Invention That Forged our Contemporary Globe
There are numerous contenders to claim the designation as “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, though, that honor belongs to the mechanised timber mill invented through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated approximately ten sawyers working over three months,” writes the author. “With wind-powered lumber mills, the same quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured within seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid automated saw, that converted logs into boards with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly than anyone else, which unleashed a century of Netherlands maritime, financial and artistic supremacy across the continent and the globe.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, was “humanity’s initial true industrial machine.” A windmill rotated a wheel. A single part converted its rotary movement to vertical motion for the cutting blade. Another component transformed the spinning motion into a lateral movement feeding the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log ahead a measured step per stroke.
“Each element was simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance lay in how to combine them so the machine acted in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing on every descending stroke and advancing with each upward motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental parts.”
A fact that leads us up to today’s puzzle. The task is for you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Design a machine which converts rotary movement to up-and-down motion. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the rods will fit snugly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a base, so the parts don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK featuring the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) contenders as the world’s greatest creation.
