Can You Crack It? The Overlooked Netherlands Creation That Forged our Modern World
There are many contenders to claim the title of “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, however, that honor belongs to a mechanised timber mill invented by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, building a modest trading ship required around 10 lumberjacks working for 90 days,” notes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured within seven days.”
Owing to their rapid automated saw, which converted logs into planks with virtually no manual labor, the Dutch could construct vessels faster compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked a century of Dutch naval, financial as well as artistic dominance across Europe and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, was “humanity’s first true factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part converted its rotary movement into vertical action for the saw. Another component changed the spinning motion into a lateral movement advancing the log toward the blade. A ratchet system moved the wood forward a measured step each stroke.
“Each element seemed simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to integrate these parts in order that the machine operated in a precisely synchronized order, cutting on every downward stroke and moving with each upward motion. This constituted an astonishingly clever application of basic parts.”
A fact that brings us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Design a machine that turns circular motion to up-and-down action. Your available these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the rods can slide snugly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the components don’t fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) candidates as the world’s greatest invention.