🔗 Share this article Are You Able to Crack It? That Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Forged the Modern Globe There are numerous contenders for the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine. As per a new book, though, that honor belongs to the mechanised timber mill conceived through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593. “Prior to automated cutting, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated around ten lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, the same quantity of processed timber might be produced within seven days.” Owing to this speedy automated cutter, which turned logs into boards with virtually no manual labor, the Dutch were able to build vessels more quickly than any other nation, which sparked a century of Netherlands maritime, economic as well as cultural supremacy in the continent and the globe. The First Genuine Manufacturing Device The inventor's lumber mill, argues the writer, was “humanity’s first authentic factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. One component converted the circular motion to vertical motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s movement feeding the timber toward the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead one precise increment per stroke. “Every component seemed simple on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to combine these parts so the machine acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting on every downward stroke while moving with each upward motion. It was a remarkably intelligent application of fundamental components.” A fact that brings us to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reimagine one of the fundamental concepts underpinning this historic invention. Round and Up Construct a machine which converts circular motion to up-and-down motion. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or housing into which a single the rods will fit snugly. (Assume you can put things on a base, so the parts do not fall down.) The solution returns later today UK with the answer. Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to suggest (non obvious) candidates for the planet’s most impactful creation.