Are You Able to Solve This? That Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Shaped the Modern Globe
One can find many contenders to claim the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a recent publication, however, that honor should go to the automated sawmill conceived through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before automated cutting, building a modest merchant vessel required approximately 10 sawyers laboring over 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, the same amount of cut lumber could be manufactured within a week.”
Thanks to this rapid automated cutter, that converted timber into boards with virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to build ships more quickly compared to anyone else, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch naval, financial as well as artistic dominance across the continent and the world.
The First True Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, was “humanity’s first authentic industrial machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part transformed its rotary motion into up-and-down action to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed that same spinning motion into a lateral movement advancing the timber to the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element was simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine them so the machine acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting on every downward motion while moving with each upward motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent application of basic components.”
Which leads us to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism that turns rotary motion to up-and-down motion. You have these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the bars can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so the components do not fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK with the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) candidates as the world’s most impactful invention.
