Are You Able to Solve It? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Forged our Modern Globe
One can find numerous contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, though, that title should go to the mechanised timber mill conceived through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated approximately 10 sawyers laboring over three months,” writes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of processed timber could be manufactured in less than a week.”
Thanks to this rapid automated saw, which turned timber into boards using virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to build ships more quickly compared to anyone else, which sparked a century of Dutch naval, financial and artistic dominance across Europe and the globe.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s first true factory machine.” A windmill turned a wheel. A single part transformed the rotary movement into vertical motion to power the cutting blade. Another component transformed that same rotary movement into a lateral motion advancing the log to the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the log forward a measured step per stroke.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate them so they acted in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing on every descending stroke and moving with each upward motion. It was a remarkably clever application of fundamental parts.”
A fact that brings us up to today’s challenge. The task is for you to reinvent a key the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Construct a machine that turns circular motion into up-and-down action. You have these items only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a tube or housing through which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the parts do not fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time with the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to propose (non obvious) candidates as the world’s most impactful invention.
