Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Netherlands Creation Which Forged the Modern Globe
There are many contenders for the title of “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, however, that title belongs to the mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, building a simple trading ship required around 10 sawyers working for 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, the same quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured within a week.”
Owing to this speedy mechanical saw, that turned logs into boards with virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders could construct vessels faster than anyone else, which sparked a century of Netherlands naval, financial as well as artistic supremacy in Europe and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “humanity’s first authentic factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part transformed the rotary movement to vertical action for the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning motion into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber to the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the log ahead one precise increment per stroke.
“Every component seemed simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate these parts in order that the machine acted in a perfectly controlled order, sawing with each descending stroke and advancing with each upward stroke. It was a remarkably clever application of basic parts.”
A fact that leads us up to the current challenge. I’d like you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine that turns circular movement into up-and-down action. Your available these components only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a tube or sleeve into which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so the parts don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s most impactful invention.
