Are You Able to Solve It? That Overlooked Netherlands Invention Which Forged the Contemporary World
One can find many contenders for the title of “world’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, however, that title belongs to a automated sawmill invented through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Before automated cutting, constructing a simple trading ship required around 10 sawyers working for 90 days,” notes the author. “With wind-driven sawmills, the same quantity of cut lumber could be produced within a week.”
Owing to this rapid mechanical cutter, which turned timber to planks using almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, an advantage that sparked a century of Netherlands maritime, financial as well as artistic dominance across Europe and the world.
The First True Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends Dávila, was “mankind’s initial true factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. One component transformed the rotary motion to up-and-down motion for the saw. A separate mechanism changed the rotary movement into a lateral motion advancing the timber to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward one precise increment per cycle.
“Every component was modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to integrate these parts so they acted within a precisely synchronized order, sawing on every downward motion and moving with each upward stroke. It was a remarkably clever application of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us to the current puzzle. The task is for you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts behind this historic invention.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts circular motion into up-and-down action. You have these components only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Consider that you can put things on a stand, so the parts do not collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please propose (less celebrated) contenders for the planet’s most impactful creation.
