Can You Solve It? That Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Shaped the Modern World
One can find numerous contenders for the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that honor belongs to the automated sawmill conceived through Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated around ten sawyers laboring for 90 days,” notes the author. “With wind-driven sawmills, an identical quantity of processed timber could be produced within seven days.”
Owing to this speedy mechanical cutter, which converted timber to boards using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders could build ships more quickly compared to anyone else, which sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic and cultural dominance in Europe and the globe.
The Original Genuine Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s first true factory machine.” A windmill rotated a wheel. A single part converted its circular motion to vertical motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed that same spinning movement into a lateral movement advancing the log toward the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood ahead a measured step each stroke.
“Each element seemed simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate them so the machine acted in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each downward stroke while advancing on every return stroke. It was an astonishingly intelligent application of fundamental parts.”
A fact that brings us up to the current puzzle. The task is for you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns circular movement to vertical action. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a tube or housing into which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a base, so that the components do not fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (non obvious) candidates for the world’s greatest creation.
