🔗 Share this article Are You Able to Crack This? The Overlooked Netherlands Creation Which Forged the Contemporary World There are many contenders to claim the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The combustion motor. According to a recent publication, though, that title should go to a automated sawmill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593. “Before automated sawing, constructing a modest merchant vessel required approximately ten lumberjacks laboring for three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, the same amount of cut lumber could be produced in less than seven days.” Owing to this speedy automated cutter, that converted timber into planks with almost no human effort, the Dutch could construct ships faster compared to any other nation, an advantage that sparked a century of Dutch maritime, financial as well as artistic dominance in Europe and the world. The Original Genuine Manufacturing Device The inventor's sawmill, contends Dávila, was “mankind’s initial true industrial apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. A single part transformed its circular motion to vertical action to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the rotary movement into a lateral motion feeding the timber to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log ahead a measured step per stroke. “Each element was simple on its own. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to combine them so they operated in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each descending motion and advancing with each return motion. It was a remarkably intelligent use of basic components.” Which leads us to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent one of the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention. Round and Up Construct a machine that turns rotary movement to up-and-down motion. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a tube or housing through which a single the rods can slide snugly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so the components don’t fall down.) I’ll be back later today UK featuring the answer. In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) contenders as the planet’s most impactful creation.