🔗 Share this article Can You Crack It? The Forgotten Netherlands Creation That Forged our Contemporary World There are many candidates to claim the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine. As per a new book, though, that honor belongs to the mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593. “Prior to mechanised cutting, constructing a simple trading ship necessitated around ten sawyers laboring for three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of processed timber might be produced in less than seven days.” Thanks to this speedy mechanical cutter, that turned logs into boards using virtually no human effort, the Dutch could build vessels more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, financial and cultural dominance in Europe and the world. The Original Genuine Industrial Machine Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, represented “mankind’s initial true industrial machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part transformed the circular motion into up-and-down action to power the cutting blade. Another component changed that same spinning motion into a lateral motion advancing the timber toward the blade. A ratchet system shifted the log forward a measured step each stroke. “Every component was modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine these parts in order that they acted in a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting with each descending stroke while advancing on every upward stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent use of fundamental components.” A fact that brings us to today’s challenge. I’d like for you to reimagine a key the basic ideas underpinning this historic invention. Circular to Vertical Construct a mechanism which converts circular movement to up-and-down action. Your available these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a tube or housing into which one of the bars can slide snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a stand, so that the parts do not collapse.) I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the solution. Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) contenders for the world’s greatest creation.