Are You Able to Crack This? That Overlooked Netherlands Invention That Forged the Modern Globe
There are numerous candidates to claim the designation as “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a new book, though, that honor should go to the mechanised timber mill invented through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, constructing a simple merchant vessel required approximately 10 sawyers laboring over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of processed timber might be produced in less than seven days.”
Thanks to their rapid mechanical cutter, that converted logs into boards with virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders could construct vessels faster than any other nation, which unleashed one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic and cultural dominance across the continent and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends the writer, represented “mankind’s initial authentic industrial machine.” A windmill rotated a wheel. One component converted its rotary movement into vertical motion for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed the rotary movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the log toward the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward one precise increment each stroke.
“Every component was modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to combine them so the machine operated in a precisely synchronized order, sawing with each descending motion while advancing with each upward stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent use of basic parts.”
Which leads us up to the current challenge. I’d like you to reimagine one of the fundamental ideas behind this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns rotary movement to vertical action. Your available these components only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or housing into which a single the bars will fit snugly. (Consider that you can put things on a base, so that the parts do not fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to propose (less celebrated) contenders as the planet’s greatest invention.
