Are You Able to Crack It? The Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Shaped our Modern Globe
There are many candidates to claim the designation as “world’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, however, that honor should go to a mechanised sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Before automated sawing, constructing a simple trading ship necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks working over 90 days,” writes the author. “With wind-powered lumber mills, the same amount of cut lumber might be manufactured within a week.”
Owing to this rapid mechanical cutter, that turned logs to planks using almost no manual labor, the Dutch were able to build vessels faster compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed a century of Dutch maritime, financial as well as artistic dominance across Europe and the world.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues Dávila, was “mankind’s first authentic factory apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. One component transformed its circular motion into vertical action to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the log to the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood ahead one precise increment per stroke.
“Every component was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine them in order that the machine operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing on every downward motion and moving on every upward motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent application of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reinvent a key the basic ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Design a machine which converts rotary motion into up-and-down action. Your available these components only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a tube or sleeve through which one of the rods can slide snugly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the parts do not collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time with the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s greatest invention.
