🔗 Share this article Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Forged the Modern Globe There are numerous candidates for the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor. According to a recent publication, however, that title should go to the mechanised sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593. “Before mechanised cutting, constructing a simple trading ship required around 10 sawyers working for 90 days,” writes the author. “Using wind-powered sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured within a week.” Owing to this rapid automated cutter, that turned timber to planks with virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct ships faster than any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, economic and artistic supremacy across Europe and the globe. The First Genuine Industrial Machine The inventor's sawmill, argues the writer, was “humanity’s first authentic industrial machine.” A windmill turned a gear. One component transformed the rotary movement into up-and-down action to power the saw. Another component transformed the rotary movement into a sideway’s movement feeding the log toward the blade. A ratchet system shifted the log ahead one precise increment each stroke. “Every component seemed simple on its own. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to integrate these parts in order that they operated within a perfectly controlled order, sawing on every descending stroke while moving on every upward stroke. This constituted a remarkably intelligent use of fundamental components.” Which brings us up to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas underpinning this historic machine. Circular to Vertical Design a mechanism which converts circular movement into up-and-down motion. Your available these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or housing through which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Consider that you can mount components on a base, so the components don’t collapse.) I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the answer. In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) candidates as the world’s most impactful creation.