Are You Able to Solve This? The Forgotten Netherlands Creation That Shaped our Modern Globe
There are many contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, though, that title belongs to the mechanised timber mill conceived by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, constructing a modest merchant vessel required approximately ten sawyers laboring for three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of processed timber could be produced in less than seven days.”
Owing to their rapid mechanical cutter, that turned logs to planks with almost no human effort, the Dutch were able to build vessels more quickly than anyone else, which sparked a century of Dutch maritime, financial as well as cultural supremacy across Europe and the world.
The First True Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends Dávila, represented “humanity’s first authentic industrial machine.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. A single part transformed its rotary movement to vertical action to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning motion into a lateral motion feeding the log to the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the log ahead one precise increment each stroke.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to combine these parts in order that the machine acted within a precisely synchronized order, sawing on every descending motion and advancing on every return stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent use of basic components.”
A fact that brings us up to the current challenge. The task is you to reimagine one of the basic concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Construct a mechanism that turns circular movement into up-and-down motion. You have these components only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a base, so the parts don’t fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK with the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (non obvious) contenders for the world’s greatest creation.
