Can You Solve It? The Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Forged the Contemporary Globe
There are numerous contenders for the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that title belongs to the mechanised sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, constructing a modest merchant vessel necessitated around 10 sawyers working over three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of cut lumber might be manufactured in less than a week.”
Thanks to this speedy automated cutter, that converted logs to boards using virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct ships faster compared to any other nation, which sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic and cultural dominance across Europe and the world.
The First True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's sawmill, contends the writer, represented “humanity’s first true industrial machine.” A wind turbine turned a gear. One component converted its circular motion to vertical action to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning motion into a sideway’s motion advancing the timber to the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the wood ahead one precise increment each stroke.
“Each element seemed simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate them so the machine acted in a perfectly controlled order, cutting on every descending stroke and advancing on every return motion. It was an astonishingly clever use of fundamental parts.”
A fact that leads us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism that turns rotary movement to up-and-down action. You have these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume you can mount components on a stand, so the parts do not collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to suggest (non obvious) contenders for the planet’s most impactful invention.
