Can You Crack This? The Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Forged the Modern Globe

There are numerous contenders for the designation as “planet’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.

According to a new book, though, that honor should go to the mechanised sawmill invented by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.

“Before automated sawing, constructing a simple trading ship required around 10 sawyers laboring over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same quantity of processed timber might be produced within a week.”

Owing to this rapid mechanical saw, that converted timber into planks with virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct ships more quickly compared to anyone else, which sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, economic as well as cultural supremacy across Europe and the globe.

The First Genuine Industrial Device

The inventor's sawmill, contends the writer, represented “mankind’s first authentic industrial apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component converted its rotary movement to up-and-down motion for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning motion into a lateral motion advancing the timber to the blade. A geared mechanism moved the log forward one precise increment each stroke.

“Each element seemed simple on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to combine them in order that the machine operated in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each descending motion and advancing on every return stroke. This constituted a remarkably intelligent application of fundamental components.”

A fact that brings us up to today’s challenge. The task is for you to reimagine one of the basic concepts underpinning this historic invention.

Round and Up

Construct a machine which converts rotary movement into vertical motion. Your available these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so the parts don’t collapse.)

The solution returns later today UK featuring the solution.

Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the planet’s most impactful creation.