Can You Crack It? The Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Shaped the Contemporary World
One can find many contenders for the title of “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that honor should go to a mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, constructing a modest trading ship required around 10 lumberjacks laboring for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven sawmills, the same quantity of cut lumber could be produced in less than seven days.”
Thanks to this speedy automated saw, that turned logs to planks with virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, which sparked a century of Netherlands naval, economic and artistic supremacy in the continent and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's lumber mill, argues the writer, was “humanity’s initial authentic industrial machine.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component transformed the circular movement to up-and-down action to power the saw. Another component transformed the spinning movement into a sideway’s motion advancing the timber toward the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the wood ahead a measured step per stroke.
“Each element was simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate them in order that they acted in a precisely synchronized order, cutting with each downward motion while moving on every return motion. This constituted an astonishingly clever use of fundamental components.”
A fact that brings us to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reinvent a key the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts rotary motion into vertical action. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a tube or sleeve into which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so the parts don’t collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to propose (non obvious) candidates for the planet’s most impactful invention.
