Can You Solve It? The Forgotten Netherlands Invention Which Forged the Contemporary Globe
There are numerous contenders to claim the title of “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, though, that title belongs to the automated timber mill invented through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before automated sawing, constructing a modest trading ship required around ten sawyers laboring for 90 days,” writes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of processed timber could be manufactured within seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid mechanical saw, which turned logs to planks with virtually no manual labor, the Dutch could construct vessels faster than any other nation, an advantage that unleashed a century of Dutch maritime, economic and artistic supremacy across the continent and the world.
The First True Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues Dávila, was “humanity’s initial true industrial machine.” A wind turbine turned a gear. One component transformed its circular movement into up-and-down motion for the saw. A separate mechanism transformed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the timber toward the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the wood ahead one precise increment per cycle.
“Each element was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to integrate them in order that they operated in a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting on every descending motion and moving with each return motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent application of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us to the current puzzle. I’d like you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism which converts circular motion to up-and-down action. Your available these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume you can put things on a stand, so that the parts do not collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK with the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (less celebrated) contenders for the world’s most impactful invention.
