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There are numerous contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.

According to a recent publication, however, that title should go to the automated sawmill conceived by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.

“Before mechanised sawing, constructing a simple trading ship necessitated around 10 lumberjacks working for three months,” notes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of processed timber could be produced in less than seven days.”

Thanks to their rapid automated cutter, that converted logs to planks with almost no manual labor, the Dutch were able to construct ships more quickly than anyone else, an advantage that unleashed a century of Netherlands maritime, economic as well as artistic supremacy in the continent and the globe.

The First Genuine Industrial Device

The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, was “humanity’s initial authentic industrial apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. A single part transformed its circular motion into vertical action to power the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed the rotary motion into a lateral motion feeding the log toward the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log forward a measured step per cycle.

“Every component seemed simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate these parts so the machine operated in a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting on every downward motion while advancing on every upward motion. It was a remarkably intelligent application of fundamental components.”

A fact that leads us to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reimagine one of the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.

Circular to Vertical

Design a machine which converts circular movement to up-and-down action. You have these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a tube or sleeve through which a single the rods will fit snugly. (Consider that you can put things on a stand, so that the parts don’t fall down.)

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

Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to propose (non obvious) candidates for the world’s most impactful invention.