Can You Solve It? The Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Forged the Contemporary World
There are numerous contenders for the title of “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
As per a recent publication, though, that honor belongs to a mechanised sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before automated sawing, building a simple trading ship required approximately ten lumberjacks working over 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-driven sawmills, the same quantity of cut lumber might be produced within seven days.”
Owing to this rapid mechanical cutter, which converted timber into planks using almost no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic as well as cultural dominance in Europe and the world.
The First Genuine Industrial Machine
The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, was “humanity’s initial true industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part transformed the circular movement into vertical motion for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed that same rotary movement into a lateral motion advancing the timber to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the wood ahead one precise increment each cycle.
“Every component was simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to integrate them in order that they acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing on every downward motion and moving on every return motion. This constituted an astonishingly clever application of fundamental components.”
Which leads us to the current challenge. I’d like you to reinvent a key the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Design a machine that turns rotary motion to up-and-down motion. You have these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a tube or housing through which a single the bars can slide snugly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so the parts don’t fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) contenders as the world’s most impactful creation.
