Are You Able to Crack It? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Shaped the Modern World
One can find numerous contenders to claim the title of “world’s most significant invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, though, that honor should go to the mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated around 10 lumberjacks working for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of cut lumber might be produced in less than a week.”
Thanks to their rapid mechanical saw, which turned timber to boards using almost no manual labor, the Dutch could build ships more quickly compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic and cultural supremacy in the continent and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's sawmill, contends Dávila, was “mankind’s first true factory machine.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component transformed the rotary movement to up-and-down motion for the cutting blade. Another component transformed the rotary movement into a sideway’s movement feeding the log to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward a measured step each stroke.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to combine these parts in order that they operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting with each downward motion while advancing on every upward motion. It was a remarkably clever use of basic components.”
Which brings us to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Construct a machine which converts rotary movement to vertical action. You have these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a tube or housing into which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so that the components do not collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK with the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (less celebrated) contenders for the world’s most impactful creation.
