Can You Crack It? The Overlooked Dutch Invention Which Forged the Contemporary World
One can find many candidates for the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a new book, however, that title belongs to a automated timber mill invented through Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, constructing a simple merchant vessel necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks working for 90 days,” notes the author. “With wind-powered lumber mills, an identical amount of cut lumber could be manufactured within seven days.”
Owing to this rapid mechanical saw, that converted timber to planks using almost no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct ships faster compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked a century of Netherlands maritime, economic as well as cultural supremacy in Europe and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's sawmill, argues Dávila, was “mankind’s initial true factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. A single part converted the rotary movement to up-and-down action to power the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed that same rotary motion into a lateral movement feeding the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood forward one precise increment per cycle.
“Each element seemed modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to integrate these parts in order that the machine acted within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every descending stroke and moving on every return motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of basic components.”
A fact that leads us to the current challenge. I’d like you to reimagine one of the fundamental ideas behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Construct a machine that turns circular movement into up-and-down motion. You have these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which a single the rods can slide snugly. (Consider that you can put things on a stand, so that the parts do not fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) candidates for the planet’s most impactful creation.