Are You Able to Solve This? The Forgotten Dutch Invention That Forged the Modern Globe
One can find numerous contenders for the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, though, that honor should go to the mechanised timber mill conceived by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, constructing a modest trading ship required approximately ten sawyers working for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, the same quantity of processed timber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid mechanical saw, which turned logs to boards with virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that unleashed a century of Dutch naval, economic as well as cultural dominance in the continent and the globe.
The First True Industrial Device
The inventor's sawmill, argues the writer, represented “humanity’s first true factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part converted the circular motion to vertical motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the rotary motion into a lateral motion advancing the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the log ahead a measured step per stroke.
“Each element was modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate them in order that the machine operated in a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting with each descending motion while advancing with each upward motion. It was a remarkably intelligent use of fundamental parts.”
A fact that brings us up to the current challenge. The task is for you to reinvent a key the fundamental ideas behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Design a machine that turns circular movement to up-and-down motion. Your available these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or housing into which one of the bars can slide snugly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a stand, so the parts don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the answer.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) candidates for the world’s most impactful creation.
