Can You Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Creation That Forged the Modern World

One can find numerous contenders for the designation as “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.

As per a new book, however, that title should go to the mechanised timber mill conceived by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.

“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured within seven days.”

Owing to their rapid mechanical saw, which turned logs into boards using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders could build ships faster compared to any other nation, which unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, financial as well as cultural supremacy across Europe and the world.

The First True Industrial Machine

The inventor's sawmill, contends the writer, was “humanity’s initial true factory apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. One component converted its circular motion into up-and-down action for the saw. Another component changed that same rotary motion into a sideway’s motion advancing the log toward the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead one precise increment per cycle.

“Every component seemed simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to combine these parts in order that the machine acted in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each descending motion while moving with each upward stroke. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of basic components.”

Which leads us up to the current challenge. The task is for you to reinvent one of the basic concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.

Round and Up

Construct a machine which converts rotary movement into vertical action. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a tube or housing through which a single the bars can slide snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so that the components don’t collapse.)

I’ll be back later today UK time featuring the answer.

In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) contenders for the world’s most impactful invention.