Can You Solve It? That Forgotten Netherlands Invention Which Shaped the Contemporary World
One can find numerous contenders for the title of “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a new book, though, that title belongs to the mechanised timber mill invented by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, building a simple trading ship necessitated around 10 lumberjacks working over 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, the same quantity of cut lumber might be produced in less than a week.”
Owing to this rapid mechanical cutter, that turned timber to boards with almost no human effort, Dutch builders could construct ships faster than anyone else, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch maritime, financial and artistic supremacy in the continent and the world.
The First Genuine Industrial Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “mankind’s initial authentic industrial machine.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component converted the rotary movement to vertical action to power the cutting blade. Another component changed the spinning motion into a sideway’s motion advancing the log toward the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward a measured step per stroke.
“Every component seemed modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to integrate them in order that they operated in a precisely synchronized order, sawing with each downward motion and advancing with each upward stroke. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of basic components.”
A fact that leads us to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reimagine a key the basic concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts circular movement to up-and-down action. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve through which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Consider that 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 solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to suggest (non obvious) contenders for the planet’s greatest invention.
