🔗 Share this article Are You Able to Solve This? The Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Forged our Modern World There are many contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine. According to a new book, though, that honor should go to the automated timber mill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593. “Prior to mechanised cutting, building a simple trading ship necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks working for 90 days,” writes the author. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, the same quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than a week.” Owing to their speedy mechanical cutter, that turned timber to planks using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct ships more quickly compared to any other nation, which sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, economic as well as artistic dominance in the continent and the globe. The Original True Manufacturing Machine The inventor's sawmill, contends the writer, represented “mankind’s first true industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. A single part transformed the circular motion to vertical motion to power the cutting blade. A separate mechanism changed the rotary motion into a lateral motion feeding the timber to the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the log ahead one precise increment each cycle. “Each element was simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate these parts so the machine acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each descending motion and advancing on every upward motion. This constituted a remarkably clever use of fundamental parts.” Which brings us to the current puzzle. The task is for you to reinvent a key the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s invention. Round and Up Construct a mechanism that turns circular movement to vertical action. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve into which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a base, so the components do not fall down.) I’ll be back later today UK featuring the answer. In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) candidates for the world’s greatest creation.