Are You Able to Solve This? The Forgotten Dutch Creation That Forged the Modern Globe
There are many candidates for the title of “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a new book, however, that title belongs to a mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, constructing a modest trading ship required around 10 lumberjacks working for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven lumber mills, the same amount of processed timber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to this speedy automated cutter, which turned logs into boards using almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build ships faster compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic and cultural dominance in the continent and the globe.
The First True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, contends the writer, was “mankind’s first true factory machine.” A wind turbine turned a gear. One component transformed the circular movement to vertical motion to power the saw. Another component transformed the rotary movement into a sideway’s motion advancing the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log forward a measured step each cycle.
“Every component was simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to integrate these parts in order that the machine acted in a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every downward stroke while moving with each return stroke. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent application of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us up to today’s challenge. I’d like you to reimagine a key the basic concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism that turns circular movement into vertical motion. You have these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Consider that you can put things on a base, so the parts don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK time with the answer.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) contenders as the world’s greatest creation.
