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There are numerous candidates for the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.

As per a new book, however, that honor belongs to the mechanised timber mill conceived by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.

“Before automated cutting, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated around 10 lumberjacks working for 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-driven sawmills, an identical amount of processed timber might be manufactured in less than seven days.”

Thanks to this speedy mechanical saw, that converted timber into planks with almost no human effort, the Dutch could construct vessels more quickly compared to anyone else, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Netherlands naval, financial and artistic supremacy in the continent and the world.

The Original True Manufacturing Device

Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, represented “mankind’s initial true industrial apparatus.” A windmill rotated a gear. One component transformed the circular movement into vertical motion for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism changed the rotary movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the log to the blade. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead a measured step each cycle.

“Every component was modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance lay in how to combine these parts in order that they operated in a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every downward motion while advancing on every upward stroke. It was an astonishingly intelligent use of basic parts.”

Which brings us up to today’s challenge. The task is for you to reinvent one of the basic concepts underpinning this historic invention.

Round and Up

Construct a machine which converts circular motion into up-and-down action. You have these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a tube or housing through which a single the rods will fit snugly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so that the parts do not fall down.)

I’ll be back at 5pm UK featuring the solution.

In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to suggest (non obvious) contenders as the world’s most impactful invention.