Are You Able to Solve This? That Overlooked Netherlands Invention That Forged our Modern World
There are numerous candidates for the title of “world’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, though, that honor should go to a automated timber mill invented by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, building a simple trading ship required approximately 10 sawyers working over three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of processed timber might be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to their speedy mechanical saw, which converted timber into boards using almost no human effort, the Dutch were able to build ships more quickly compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked a century of Netherlands maritime, economic and artistic dominance across Europe and the globe.
The Original Genuine Industrial Device
The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, was “mankind’s initial true factory machine.” A windmill rotated a gear. One component transformed its circular motion into vertical motion for the cutting blade. Another component changed the rotary motion into a sideway’s movement feeding the log to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log forward one precise increment per stroke.
“Each element was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine them in order that the machine operated within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing with each downward stroke while moving with each return motion. This constituted an astonishingly clever use of basic components.”
A fact that brings us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts underpinning this historic invention.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism that turns circular motion into up-and-down action. You have these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so that the components don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) contenders for the world’s most impactful creation.
