🔗 Share this article Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Shaped our Modern Globe One can find many contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor. As per a new book, though, that honor should go to the automated timber mill invented through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593. “Before mechanised cutting, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated approximately ten lumberjacks laboring for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be produced in less than a week.” Thanks to this rapid mechanical saw, that converted timber to boards using virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders could construct ships more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that unleashed a century of Dutch naval, economic and cultural supremacy across Europe and the globe. The First Genuine Manufacturing Device Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends the writer, was “mankind’s initial true industrial apparatus.” A windmill rotated a wheel. One component converted the circular movement into vertical motion for the cutting blade. Another component transformed that same rotary motion into a sideway’s movement feeding the timber toward the blade. A ratchet system moved the log forward one precise increment per cycle. “Each element was simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine these parts in order that they acted in a precisely synchronized order, cutting on every downward motion while advancing on every upward motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent application of basic parts.” Which brings us to today’s challenge. The task is you to reimagine one of the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine. Circular to Vertical Construct a machine which converts rotary motion to vertical motion. Your available these components only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a tube or housing through which one of the rods can slide snugly. (Consider that you can mount components on a base, so the parts don’t fall down.) I’ll be back later today UK featuring the solution. Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s most impactful creation.