Are You Able to Solve It? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation That Forged the Contemporary World
There are numerous contenders to claim the title of “planet’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, though, that title should go to a mechanised sawmill invented by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, constructing a modest trading ship required around ten sawyers working for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, the same quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured within a week.”
Owing to this speedy mechanical saw, which turned timber to boards with almost no human effort, Dutch builders could build ships more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch maritime, economic as well as cultural supremacy across Europe and the world.
The First True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's sawmill, argues Dávila, was “humanity’s first authentic industrial machine.” A windmill rotated a gear. One component converted its circular movement into up-and-down action to power the cutting blade. Another component transformed that same rotary movement into a lateral motion advancing the log to the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the wood forward a measured step each stroke.
“Every component was modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to integrate them in order that the machine operated within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every descending motion and advancing with each return stroke. It was an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental parts.”
Which leads us to the current challenge. The task is for you to reinvent one of the basic concepts behind this historic invention.
Round and Up
Design a machine that turns circular motion into vertical action. You have these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or housing through which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Consider that you can mount components on a stand, so the components do not fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK time with the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the planet’s greatest creation.