Can You Solve This? The Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Forged our Contemporary Globe

There are numerous contenders for the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.

As per a new book, though, that title should go to the mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.

“Before automated sawing, building a modest trading ship required approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over three months,” notes the author. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, the same quantity of processed timber might be manufactured within seven days.”

Thanks to this rapid mechanical saw, that converted timber to planks using virtually no manual labor, the Dutch could build vessels faster compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, financial and artistic dominance across the continent and the world.

The Original True Industrial Machine

The inventor's lumber mill, argues the writer, represented “mankind’s initial authentic factory machine.” A windmill rotated a wheel. One component transformed the rotary motion into up-and-down motion to power the cutting blade. Another component changed that same rotary motion into a lateral motion feeding the timber to the blade. A ratchet system shifted the log ahead one precise increment per cycle.

“Each element seemed modest by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to integrate them so the machine acted within a perfectly controlled order, sawing with each downward motion while advancing on every return motion. This constituted a remarkably clever use of fundamental parts.”

Which brings us up to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reimagine a key the fundamental ideas underpinning this historic machine.

Circular to Vertical

Design a mechanism that turns rotary motion into vertical action. You have these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a tube or sleeve through which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a base, so the parts do not fall down.)

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

In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) candidates as the world’s most impactful invention.