Can You Solve This? The Overlooked Netherlands Invention Which Shaped our Modern Globe
There are numerous contenders to claim the title of “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a recent publication, however, that honor should go to the automated timber mill invented through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, constructing a simple merchant vessel necessitated around 10 sawyers working over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, the same quantity of processed timber might be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Thanks to this speedy automated saw, which converted logs to planks using almost no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct ships faster compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic as well as artistic supremacy in the continent and the globe.
The First True Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's lumber mill, contends the writer, was “humanity’s initial authentic factory apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a gear. A single part converted the circular movement into vertical motion to power the cutting blade. Another component changed that same rotary motion into a lateral motion advancing the timber toward the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log ahead a measured step per stroke.
“Each element was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate them so the machine operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each descending stroke and moving with each return stroke. It was an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental parts.”
Which leads us up to the current puzzle. The task is you to reimagine a key the fundamental ideas behind this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine that turns circular motion into vertical motion. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or housing into which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so the components don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (less celebrated) contenders for the planet’s most impactful creation.
