Are You Able to Solve This? The Overlooked Netherlands Invention That Shaped our Modern Globe
There are many candidates to claim the designation as “world’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, however, that title should go to a mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a modest trading ship required around 10 lumberjacks working for three months,” notes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of processed timber might be produced within seven days.”
Owing to this speedy automated saw, which converted timber to boards using almost no human effort, Dutch builders could build vessels faster compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked a century of Dutch naval, financial and artistic supremacy in Europe and the globe.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends the writer, was “mankind’s initial authentic industrial machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. A single part transformed its circular motion to up-and-down action to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same rotary motion into a sideway’s motion advancing the log to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log forward a measured step per stroke.
“Each element seemed simple on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine them in order that they operated within a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each downward motion while moving with each upward motion. It was an astonishingly clever application of fundamental components.”
Which leads us up to the current puzzle. I’d like you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism that turns circular movement to vertical action. Your available these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the bars can slide perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the parts don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) candidates as the world’s greatest creation.
