Can You Solve This? That Forgotten Dutch Invention That Shaped the Contemporary World
One can find numerous contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a new book, however, that honor belongs to a mechanised sawmill invented through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before automated sawing, building a modest merchant vessel required around 10 lumberjacks working for 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, an identical quantity of processed timber could be manufactured within a week.”
Owing to this rapid mechanical saw, which turned logs into planks with virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders could build ships more quickly compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Dutch maritime, economic as well as artistic supremacy in Europe and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's sawmill, argues Dávila, represented “mankind’s first authentic industrial apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component transformed its rotary movement to up-and-down motion for the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same spinning motion into a lateral movement feeding the timber toward the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Each element was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate them in order that they acted within a precisely synchronized order, cutting on every descending stroke while advancing with each upward stroke. This constituted an astonishingly clever application of fundamental parts.”
Which brings us to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent one of the basic concepts behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts circular movement to vertical motion. You have these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or housing through which one of the rods can slide perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a base, so that the parts don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the world’s greatest creation.
