Are You Able to Solve This? The Overlooked Netherlands Creation That Shaped the Modern World
One can find many contenders for the title of “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, though, that honor should go to the mechanised sawmill invented through Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, constructing a simple merchant vessel required approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring for 90 days,” writes the author. “With wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of processed timber might be manufactured within seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid automated saw, that turned timber into boards using virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to build vessels faster than any other nation, an advantage that sparked a century of Netherlands maritime, economic and artistic supremacy in Europe and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's sawmill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s initial true industrial apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component converted the circular movement to vertical motion for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed that same rotary motion into a lateral movement advancing the log toward the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the wood ahead one precise increment per cycle.
“Each element seemed modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance lay in how to combine these parts in order that they operated in a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting with each descending motion while advancing on every return motion. It was a remarkably intelligent application of basic parts.”
A fact that leads us up to the current challenge. I’d like for you to reimagine one of the basic ideas underpinning this historic invention.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism that turns circular movement to up-and-down motion. You have these items only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a tube or housing into which one of the bars can slide snugly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the components do not fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK featuring the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) candidates as the world’s most impactful invention.
