🔗 Share this article Are You Able to Crack It? The Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Shaped our Modern Globe One can find numerous contenders for the title of “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor. As per a recent publication, however, that title should go to a mechanised timber mill conceived by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593. “Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a modest trading ship required approximately ten lumberjacks laboring for 90 days,” writes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of processed timber might be produced within seven days.” Thanks to this rapid mechanical cutter, which turned timber to planks with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct ships faster than anyone else, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Dutch maritime, economic and artistic dominance across the continent and the world. The First True Industrial Machine Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “mankind’s initial authentic industrial machine.” A windmill rotated a gear. A single part converted the circular movement into vertical action for the cutting blade. Another component changed that same spinning motion into a sideway’s movement advancing the log to the blade. A ratchet system moved the log ahead a measured step each stroke. “Every component was modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius was to combine these parts in order that they acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing on every downward motion and advancing with each upward stroke. This constituted an astonishingly clever application of fundamental components.” Which brings us up to today’s puzzle. The task is for you to reinvent a key the basic concepts behind this historic machine. Round and Up Design a machine that turns circular motion into vertical action. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the rods can slide snugly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the components don’t collapse.) I’ll be back at 5pm UK featuring the answer. Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to propose (non obvious) contenders as the planet’s most impactful invention.