Can You Crack It? The Forgotten Dutch Invention Which Forged the Modern World
There are numerous candidates to claim the title of “world’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, though, that title belongs to the mechanised sawmill invented by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before automated cutting, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated around 10 sawyers laboring over three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than a week.”
Thanks to this rapid automated cutter, which turned timber to planks using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels faster than anyone else, which unleashed one hundred years of Netherlands naval, economic and cultural dominance across the continent and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues Dávila, was “humanity’s initial authentic industrial apparatus.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part transformed its circular motion to up-and-down motion for the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same spinning movement into a lateral motion advancing the log toward the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log forward one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to integrate them so the machine operated within a perfectly controlled order, sawing with each downward motion and advancing with each upward stroke. This constituted an astonishingly clever use of basic parts.”
A fact that brings us to the current puzzle. The task is for you to reimagine a key the basic concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine that turns rotary motion into vertical action. Your available these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, that is a tube or sleeve through which one of the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the parts do not collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s most impactful creation.
