Can You Crack This? The Forgotten Dutch Invention Which Shaped the Contemporary World

There are numerous contenders for the title of “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.

According to a new book, however, that honor belongs to a mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.

“Before automated sawing, constructing a simple merchant vessel necessitated around 10 lumberjacks working for three months,” writes the author. “With wind-powered lumber mills, the same quantity of cut lumber could be produced within a week.”

Thanks to this rapid automated cutter, which converted logs into boards with virtually no human effort, the Dutch could build ships more quickly compared to anyone else, which sparked a century of Netherlands naval, financial as well as cultural dominance across the continent and the globe.

The Original True Industrial Device

The inventor's sawmill, argues the writer, was “humanity’s first true factory machine.” A windmill turned a gear. One component converted its rotary movement to vertical motion for the cutting blade. Another component transformed that same spinning movement into a lateral movement feeding the log to the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward a measured step per cycle.

“Every component seemed simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine them so they operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing on every descending stroke and advancing with each upward stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent application of basic components.”

Which brings us up to today’s puzzle. The task is for you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.

Round and Up

Construct a mechanism that turns rotary movement into up-and-down action. You have these items only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or housing through which a single the rods can slide snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a stand, so that the components don’t fall down.)

The solution returns later today UK time featuring the answer.

Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) contenders as the planet’s greatest invention.