Are You Able to Solve It? That Overlooked Dutch Creation That Forged the Modern Globe
There are numerous contenders to claim the title of “planet’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, however, that honor belongs to the mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, building a modest merchant vessel required approximately 10 sawyers laboring over 90 days,” writes the author. “Using wind-driven sawmills, an identical quantity of processed timber might be manufactured in less than a week.”
Thanks to their speedy mechanical saw, that turned timber into boards with almost no manual labor, Dutch builders could build ships faster compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed a century of Netherlands maritime, financial and artistic dominance across the continent and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends Dávila, was “humanity’s initial true factory machine.” A windmill turned a gear. One component converted the rotary motion into vertical motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s movement feeding the timber toward the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log forward one precise increment each cycle.
“Every component was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate these parts so the machine acted within a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting on every descending motion and advancing on every return stroke. This constituted a remarkably clever use of fundamental components.”
A fact that brings us to the current challenge. The task is for you to reimagine a key the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism that turns rotary movement into vertical motion. You have these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or housing through which a single the bars can slide perfectly. (Consider that you can mount components on a stand, so that the parts do not fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) contenders as the planet’s greatest creation.
