Are You Able to Crack This? The Overlooked Dutch Creation That Shaped our Contemporary Globe

One can find numerous contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.

According to a new book, however, that title should go to the automated timber mill invented by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.

“Before mechanised cutting, constructing a modest merchant vessel necessitated around ten sawyers working over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, an identical amount of processed timber could be manufactured in less than a week.”

Owing to this speedy automated cutter, which converted timber to boards with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build ships more quickly compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic and cultural supremacy across the continent and the world.

The Original True Manufacturing Device

The inventor's sawmill, argues Dávila, was “humanity’s initial true factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part transformed the rotary motion to vertical motion to power the saw. Another component changed the rotary movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead a measured step per stroke.

“Every component seemed modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to integrate these parts so they operated in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each descending motion and moving with each upward motion. This constituted a remarkably clever use of basic parts.”

Which brings us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent one of the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.

Round and Up

Construct a machine which converts circular motion into vertical motion. You have these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or housing through which a single the bars will fit snugly. (Assume you can put things on a base, so that the parts do not fall down.)

I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the answer.

In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (less celebrated) contenders for the world’s greatest creation.