Are You Able to Crack This? The Forgotten Dutch Creation That Forged our Modern Globe
There are many contenders to claim the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a new book, however, that title should go to a automated timber mill invented by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated approximately 10 sawyers laboring over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to this rapid mechanical cutter, which converted timber into boards with almost no manual labor, the Dutch could build vessels faster compared to any other nation, which unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, financial and artistic supremacy in Europe and the world.
The First True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s first authentic factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. A single part transformed the circular motion into up-and-down motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed the spinning motion into a sideway’s movement feeding the log to the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward a measured step each stroke.
“Each element seemed modest by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to integrate these parts in order that they acted in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each downward stroke while moving with each upward stroke. It was a remarkably clever use of fundamental parts.”
A fact that brings us to today’s puzzle. The task is you to reimagine a key the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism that turns rotary motion into up-and-down action. You have these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or housing through which a single the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so the parts don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the world’s most impactful invention.
