Are You Able to Solve This? The Forgotten Dutch Invention That Forged our Modern World
One can find many contenders for the title of “world’s most significant invention.” The wheel. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that honor should go to the mechanised timber mill invented by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, building a modest trading ship required around ten lumberjacks working over 90 days,” writes the author. “With wind-powered sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be produced within a week.”
Owing to their speedy automated saw, which converted logs to planks with virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct ships faster compared to any other nation, which unleashed a century of Netherlands maritime, financial as well as cultural dominance across Europe and the globe.
The First Genuine Industrial Device
The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, was “humanity’s first true factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. One component transformed the circular motion to up-and-down action for the saw. A separate mechanism changed the spinning motion into a lateral motion advancing the timber toward the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward a measured step per stroke.
“Every component was modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to combine these parts so they acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each downward motion while moving with each return stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent use of fundamental parts.”
Which brings us to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent one of the fundamental concepts behind this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine that turns rotary movement to vertical action. Your available these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the bars will fit snugly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a stand, so the parts don’t collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK featuring the solution.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) contenders for the world’s most impactful invention.
