Are You Able to Solve It? That Overlooked Netherlands Invention That Forged the Modern Globe
There are numerous candidates to claim the title of “world’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The combustion motor.
As per a recent publication, though, that honor should go to a mechanised sawmill invented through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, building a simple merchant vessel necessitated around 10 lumberjacks working over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, the same quantity of processed timber might be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to their speedy automated saw, that converted logs to boards using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels faster compared to anyone else, which unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, financial and artistic dominance across Europe and the globe.
The First Genuine Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s first authentic factory apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. One component converted the rotary movement to vertical motion for the saw. A separate mechanism transformed that same rotary movement into a lateral movement advancing the log to the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the log forward one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element seemed modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate them in order that the machine operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each downward stroke and advancing on every return motion. This constituted an astonishingly clever use of fundamental components.”
Which leads us to the current challenge. I’d like you to reinvent one of the basic concepts behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns circular motion into vertical action. You have these components only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a tube or sleeve through which a single the bars can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the components do not fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (less celebrated) contenders as the planet’s greatest creation.
