Are You Able to Crack This? The Forgotten Netherlands Invention Which Shaped our Modern Globe
There are numerous contenders to claim the title of “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor belongs to the mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, building a modest merchant vessel required around ten lumberjacks laboring for three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of processed timber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to this speedy automated saw, which converted timber to planks using virtually no human effort, the Dutch could build ships faster compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked a century of Netherlands naval, economic as well as artistic dominance across Europe and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues the writer, represented “mankind’s initial true industrial machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part transformed its rotary movement into vertical motion for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning movement into a lateral motion feeding the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood forward one precise increment each stroke.
“Every component was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to combine them in order that they acted in a precisely synchronized order, cutting with each downward motion and advancing with each upward stroke. It was a remarkably clever application of basic components.”
Which leads us to today’s puzzle. The task is you to reimagine a key the fundamental ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Design a machine that turns rotary motion into vertical motion. Your available these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a tube or sleeve through which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so that the components do not fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK featuring the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the world’s most impactful creation.