🔗 Share this article Are You Able to Crack This? That Overlooked Netherlands Creation That Forged our Modern Globe There are numerous candidates to claim the title of “planet’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor. As per a new book, however, that honor belongs to the automated sawmill conceived through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593. “Before mechanised cutting, building a modest trading ship necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks working for 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven lumber mills, the same quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured in less than a week.” Owing to their speedy mechanical cutter, that turned timber to planks with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels faster compared to any other nation, which sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, economic and cultural supremacy across Europe and the world. The First Genuine Manufacturing Device Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s first true industrial machine.” A windmill turned a gear. One component converted the rotary motion to vertical motion to power the cutting blade. A separate mechanism changed the spinning movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the timber toward the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the wood ahead a measured step per cycle. “Each element was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to combine these parts in order that the machine operated within a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each descending motion while advancing on every upward stroke. It was an astonishingly clever use of basic parts.” Which brings us up to today’s challenge. I’d like for you to reimagine a key the basic concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention. Round and Up Design a machine that turns rotary motion to up-and-down action. Your available these items only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or housing through which one of the bars can slide snugly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so that the components don’t fall down.) The solution returns later today UK time with the answer. In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (less celebrated) candidates for the planet’s greatest creation.