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Are You Able to Crack It? That Forgotten Netherlands Invention That Shaped our Modern World
There are numerous contenders for the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, though, that honor should go to a automated timber mill conceived through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, building a modest merchant vessel required approximately 10 sawyers working over three months,” writes the author. “With wind-powered sawmills, an identical amount of processed timber could be produced in less than seven days.”
Thanks to this speedy automated cutter, which converted logs to boards using virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct ships more quickly than anyone else, which unleashed a century of Netherlands maritime, economic as well as cultural supremacy across the continent and the world.
The Original True Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends Dávila, was “humanity’s initial authentic factory apparatus.” A windmill rotated a wheel. A single part transformed its rotary motion to vertical motion to power the saw. Another component changed that same spinning motion into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood ahead a measured step per stroke.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to integrate these parts so they operated in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each descending stroke while advancing on every return motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent application of basic components.”
Which brings us up to the current puzzle. I’d like you to reinvent a key the fundamental concepts behind this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism which converts circular motion into up-and-down motion. You have these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or housing into which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume you can put things on a base, so that the parts don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK time featuring the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the world’s greatest invention.
Rita Jenkins
A financial strategist with over a decade of experience in wealth management and investment planning, dedicated to empowering others.
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