🔗 Share this article Can You Solve This? The Overlooked Dutch Invention Which Forged the Modern World There are numerous candidates to claim the title of “world’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine. As per a recent publication, however, that title belongs to the mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593. “Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a modest trading ship required approximately ten lumberjacks working for three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of cut lumber might be manufactured in less than a week.” Owing to their speedy mechanical saw, which converted timber into planks with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels faster than any other nation, which sparked a century of Dutch naval, financial and cultural supremacy in the continent and the globe. The First Genuine Manufacturing Machine Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s initial true factory machine.” A wind turbine turned a gear. One component converted its rotary movement to up-and-down action for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism changed the spinning movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the timber toward the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the wood ahead one precise increment per cycle. “Each element was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to integrate them so the machine acted in a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every downward stroke and advancing with each return motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent application of basic components.” Which leads us to today’s puzzle. The task is for you to reimagine a key the basic ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine. Circular to Vertical Construct a machine that turns circular movement into vertical action. You have these components only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or housing into which a single the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so the components don’t collapse.) The solution returns later today UK with the answer. Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s most impactful invention.