Are You Able to Solve This? That Overlooked Netherlands Invention Which Forged the Contemporary World
There are numerous candidates to claim the title of “world’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a new book, though, that title should go to the automated timber mill conceived by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated approximately 10 sawyers working for 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of processed timber could be manufactured in less than a week.”
Thanks to this rapid automated saw, that turned timber into planks using almost no manual labor, Dutch builders could build ships faster than any other nation, which sparked one hundred years of Netherlands maritime, financial as well as cultural supremacy in the continent and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues the writer, was “humanity’s initial authentic industrial machine.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component converted its rotary movement into up-and-down motion for the saw. A separate mechanism changed the spinning movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the log to the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the wood forward one precise increment per cycle.
“Every component seemed simple on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate these parts in order that they operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing on every downward motion and moving with each upward motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent use of basic components.”
Which leads us to the current challenge. The task is for you to reimagine one of the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns rotary motion into up-and-down motion. You have these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the bars will fit snugly. (Consider that you can mount components on a base, so the parts do not collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please propose (less celebrated) candidates as the world’s most impactful creation.
