Are You Able to Crack This? That Overlooked Netherlands Creation Which Forged the Modern Globe
One can find numerous candidates to claim the designation as “planet’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor should go to the mechanised timber mill conceived by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, constructing a simple trading ship necessitated approximately 10 sawyers laboring for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be produced in less than seven days.”
Owing to this speedy mechanical cutter, that turned logs into boards using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders could construct ships more quickly compared to any other nation, an advantage that sparked a century of Netherlands maritime, economic and cultural dominance in the continent and the globe.
The First True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, contends the writer, represented “humanity’s initial true factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. A single part converted the rotary motion into vertical motion to power the cutting blade. Another component transformed that same rotary movement into a lateral movement advancing the timber toward the blade. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element was modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate these parts in order that they operated within a perfectly controlled order, sawing on every descending motion and advancing with each return motion. It was a remarkably intelligent application of basic components.”
Which leads us up to the current puzzle. The task is you to reinvent a key the basic concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism that turns circular movement to vertical action. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a base, so that the parts do not fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s greatest invention.
