Are You Able to Crack This? The Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Shaped our Contemporary Globe
One can find numerous candidates to claim the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor should go to a mechanised sawmill invented by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before automated cutting, building a modest trading ship required around ten sawyers working for three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven sawmills, an identical amount of processed timber could be manufactured within a week.”
Thanks to this speedy mechanical saw, that converted logs to planks using virtually no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct vessels faster than any other nation, which unleashed a century of Dutch naval, economic and cultural dominance across the continent and the globe.
The First True Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends the writer, represented “humanity’s first authentic industrial machine.” A wind turbine turned a gear. A single part converted its circular motion to vertical action for the saw. Another component changed the spinning motion into a lateral motion advancing the log toward the cutter. A ratchet system moved the log forward a measured step each cycle.
“Every component was simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to combine them in order that the machine acted within a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting on every downward motion and advancing with each upward motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental parts.”
A fact that leads us up to the current challenge. I’d like you to reinvent a key the basic concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine that turns circular movement to vertical motion. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or housing through which one of the bars can slide snugly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the components don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s greatest creation.
