Can You Solve It? That Forgotten Dutch Invention Which Forged our Modern World
One can find numerous candidates for the title of “world’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor should go to a automated timber mill invented through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, constructing a simple merchant vessel necessitated approximately ten sawyers working for three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, the same quantity of processed timber might be produced in less than seven days.”
Owing to this rapid automated saw, which turned timber to boards with virtually no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct ships faster than anyone else, an advantage that sparked a century of Dutch maritime, financial and cultural dominance across Europe and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's sawmill, argues Dávila, was “mankind’s first true industrial machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. One component converted the rotary motion to vertical action to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the rotary motion into a lateral motion advancing the log to the blade. A ratchet system moved the wood ahead a measured step each stroke.
“Each element seemed simple by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate these parts in order that the machine acted in a precisely synchronized order, cutting with each downward motion while moving with each upward motion. This constituted a remarkably clever use of fundamental parts.”
Which leads us to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reimagine a key the basic concepts underpinning this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine which converts rotary motion into vertical action. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or sleeve through which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume you can put things on a stand, so that the components do not fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK with the solution.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) candidates for the planet’s most impactful creation.
