Can You Crack It? That Forgotten Netherlands Invention That Shaped our Contemporary Globe
There are numerous contenders to claim the title of “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a new book, however, that honor should go to a automated sawmill conceived by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated around 10 lumberjacks working over three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered lumber mills, the same amount of cut lumber might be manufactured within a week.”
Thanks to their speedy mechanical cutter, that turned logs into planks using virtually no human effort, the Dutch could build ships more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, financial and cultural dominance across Europe and the globe.
The First Genuine Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, represented “mankind’s first authentic factory machine.” A windmill turned a gear. One component transformed its circular motion to vertical motion to power the saw. Another component transformed the rotary motion into a sideway’s movement feeding the log toward the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead a measured step each stroke.
“Every component was simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate them so the machine acted in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each downward stroke while advancing with each upward stroke. It was an astonishingly clever use of fundamental parts.”
A fact that leads us up to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the basic ideas underpinning this historic invention.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism that turns circular motion into vertical action. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or housing into which one of the rods can slide snugly. (Consider that you can put things on a stand, so that the parts do not collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the world’s most impactful invention.
