🔗 Share this article Can You Crack It? The Forgotten Dutch Invention That Forged our Contemporary Globe There are numerous candidates for the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor. According to a new book, though, that honor should go to the mechanised timber mill invented by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593. “Prior to mechanised cutting, constructing a modest merchant vessel required around ten lumberjacks working over three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, an identical amount of cut lumber might be manufactured within a week.” Thanks to this speedy mechanical saw, which turned logs into boards with virtually no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch maritime, financial and cultural dominance across the continent and the world. The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine The inventor's sawmill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s first authentic factory machine.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part transformed its circular movement into vertical motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed that same rotary movement into a lateral motion advancing the timber toward the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the log ahead a measured step per stroke. “Every component was modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to integrate them in order that they acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting with each downward motion while advancing with each upward motion. It was an astonishingly clever use of basic parts.” Which brings us to today’s puzzle. The task is for you to reinvent a key the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s invention. Circular to Vertical Construct a mechanism that turns circular motion into up-and-down motion. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a base, so the components do not fall down.) I’ll be back at 5pm UK featuring the answer. Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to propose (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s most impactful invention.