Can You Solve It? That Forgotten Netherlands Invention That Forged the Contemporary World
There are many candidates for the title of “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that title should go to a automated sawmill conceived through Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a modest trading ship required around ten sawyers working for three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be produced in less than seven days.”
Thanks to their speedy mechanical cutter, that turned logs to boards using almost no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to build vessels faster than any other nation, an advantage that sparked a century of Netherlands maritime, financial and cultural dominance in the continent and the world.
The First True Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues the writer, represented “humanity’s first true factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a gear. One component transformed its circular movement into vertical motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the rotary motion into a lateral movement feeding the log toward the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the wood ahead one precise increment each cycle.
“Every component seemed modest on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to combine them so they acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting on every downward motion while advancing on every upward stroke. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reimagine one of the fundamental concepts behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts circular movement into up-and-down action. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so that the parts do not fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK featuring the answer.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to propose (non obvious) contenders for the planet’s greatest invention.
