Are You Able to Solve It? That Overlooked Netherlands Creation Which Shaped the Contemporary Globe

There are many contenders to claim the title of “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.

According to a recent publication, though, that title belongs to a mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.

“Prior to mechanised cutting, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated approximately ten sawyers laboring for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured within seven days.”

Owing to this rapid mechanical saw, which turned logs into boards with virtually no human effort, the Dutch were able to build ships more quickly than anyone else, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic as well as artistic dominance in Europe and the world.

The First Genuine Manufacturing Machine

Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues Dávila, was “humanity’s first authentic industrial machine.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. One component transformed the circular motion into vertical action to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same spinning motion into a sideway’s movement feeding the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the log ahead one precise increment per stroke.

“Every component seemed modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance lay in how to combine these parts so the machine acted within a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each descending stroke and advancing on every upward stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent application of fundamental components.”

A fact that leads us up to today’s challenge. I’d like for you to reimagine one of the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.

Circular to Vertical

Construct a machine that turns rotary motion into vertical motion. You have these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a stand, so the components do not collapse.)

I’ll be back later today UK with the answer.

Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (less celebrated) contenders for the world’s greatest creation.