Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Invention Which Shaped the Modern World
One can find many candidates for the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a new book, however, that title should go to the automated sawmill invented through Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated around ten lumberjacks laboring over three months,” writes the author. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured in less than a week.”
Owing to this rapid automated cutter, that turned timber into planks using almost no manual labor, the Dutch could build ships faster than any other nation, which unleashed a century of Dutch maritime, financial and cultural supremacy across the continent and the world.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues Dávila, represented “humanity’s initial authentic industrial apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. A single part transformed the circular movement into vertical motion to power the saw. Another component transformed the spinning motion into a sideway’s motion advancing the log toward the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the log forward a measured step per stroke.
“Every component was simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine these parts so they acted in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing on every descending stroke while advancing on every upward stroke. It was a remarkably clever application of basic parts.”
A fact that brings us to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reimagine one of the fundamental concepts underpinning this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine that turns rotary motion into up-and-down motion. Your available these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or housing into which a single the bars will fit snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so that the components do not fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK featuring the answer.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) contenders as the planet’s greatest creation.
