Can You Solve It? That Forgotten Dutch Invention Which Shaped our Contemporary World
One can find many candidates for the designation as “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor belongs to the mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, building a simple trading ship necessitated approximately 10 sawyers laboring over 90 days,” writes the author. “Using wind-driven sawmills, the same quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured within a week.”
Owing to their rapid mechanical saw, that converted timber into boards with virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly than anyone else, which unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, economic and cultural dominance across the continent and the globe.
The First Genuine Industrial Machine
The inventor's sawmill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s first true factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a gear. One component converted the rotary motion into up-and-down action for the cutting blade. Another component transformed the spinning motion into a lateral movement feeding the log toward the blade. A ratchet system moved the log ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Every component was modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius was to combine them in order that they operated in a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every descending stroke and advancing with each upward stroke. It was an astonishingly intelligent application of basic components.”
Which brings us up to today’s challenge. I’d like you to reimagine one of the basic concepts behind this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine that turns circular motion to up-and-down motion. You have these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the rods will fit snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a stand, so the components don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (less celebrated) candidates for the world’s greatest invention.
