Are You Able to Solve This? The Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Shaped our Modern World

There are many contenders for the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.

As per a new book, though, that title should go to the mechanised sawmill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.

“Before automated sawing, building a modest trading ship necessitated approximately 10 sawyers working over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of processed timber could be manufactured within a week.”

Owing to their rapid mechanical cutter, which converted logs into boards with almost no manual labor, the Dutch could construct vessels more quickly than anyone else, an advantage that unleashed a century of Dutch naval, economic as well as artistic supremacy across Europe and the world.

The First Genuine Industrial Device

The inventor's sawmill, contends the writer, represented “mankind’s initial true industrial machine.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. One component converted the rotary motion into vertical action to power the cutting blade. Another component changed that same rotary movement into a lateral motion advancing the timber to the blade. A geared mechanism moved the log forward one precise increment each cycle.

“Every component was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine these parts so they acted within a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each downward motion while moving with each upward stroke. It was a remarkably clever application of fundamental parts.”

Which brings us to the current challenge. I’d like for you to reinvent one of the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.

Round and Up

Construct a mechanism that turns rotary movement to vertical action. Your available these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or housing through which a single the bars can slide perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a base, so that the parts do not fall down.)

The solution returns at 5pm UK time with the answer.

Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) candidates as the world’s most impactful invention.