Can You Solve It? That Overlooked Dutch Invention That Forged our Modern World
There are numerous contenders to claim the title of “world’s most significant invention.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a new book, however, that honor should go to a mechanised timber mill invented by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, constructing a modest merchant vessel required approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring for 90 days,” writes the author. “Using wind-driven sawmills, the same amount of processed timber could be produced in less than a week.”
Owing to this speedy mechanical cutter, which turned timber into boards with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct ships more quickly compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic and cultural supremacy in Europe and the world.
The First Genuine Industrial Machine
The inventor's sawmill, contends the writer, represented “mankind’s first true industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a gear. A single part transformed the circular movement into vertical motion for the cutting blade. Another component changed the spinning movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the log to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward one precise increment per cycle.
“Each element was simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to combine these parts so the machine acted in a precisely synchronized order, cutting with each descending motion while advancing on every return motion. It was a remarkably intelligent application of basic parts.”
A fact that brings us up to today’s challenge. The task is for you to reinvent a key the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine that turns circular movement to vertical action. Your available these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a tube or housing through which a single the bars can slide snugly. (Assume you can put things on a base, so the parts don’t fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time with the answer.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) contenders for the world’s most impactful invention.
