Friday 21 April 2017

Bessler's Evidence and his Critics.

There are three areas or shades of scepticism about Johannn Bessler's claims; there are those who follow the establishment line, that the scientific laws codified through more than 300 years, prove that such devices are impossible; then there are those who are willing to consider that Bessler's claims, based on the persuasive historical evidence, might be true and that perhaps there is a loop-hole in the physical laws which might permit a gravity-enabled wheel to spin continuously. Lastly there are those who were convinced either immediately or over a short period of time that Bessler's wheel was indeed possible, but who, after countless experimental designs have failed, have finally conceded that the establishment view is correct and they have given up on the project.

There is a small hard core of people who remain convinced that Bessler's wheel was genuine and that if they or someone can succeed in replicating it, it could provide a welcome addition to the sources of energy required today and in the future.  Failure after failure does not dim our optimism and despite numerous setbacks we continue to design, experiment and consider, ruminate and conjecture on numberless hypothetical mechanical arrangements, perpetually seeking that speculative loop-hole in the man-made laws of physics.

The evidence in support of Bessler can be categorised in three ways too.  Firstly the witness reports describing the tests that each wheel underwent.  Each demonstration required a tougher test for each subsequent wheel, and they in turn emerged in a more convincing format, larger dimensions and capable of lifting heavier objects. All of these tests were suggested and designed by Gottfried Leibniz, to convince the sceptics that Bessler's wheel had a genuine potential even if it wasn't technically a perpetual motion machine.  This caveat at the end of the previous senece, lends weight to his personal belief that what ever lay behind its motion, Johann Bessler was absolutely honest about his wheel.

The second category consists of Karl the Landgrave of Hesse Kassel, his personal opinion that the machine was genuine, based on his actual observation of the inner workings of the wheel - a condition of his patronage.  There is no doubt about Karl's integrity and thus no chance of collusion in a fraud, between the two men.  It must also be remembered that Karl was a knowledgeable amateur scientist himself.  He financially supported a number of ongoing experiments including a Denis Papin's steam engine, and the establishment of an observatory and also sent his court engineer to England to obtain information on the Newcomen engine.

The last category is often ignored but for me it is at least equally persuasive of Bessler's sincerity. I refer to his autobiographical account of his search for the solution to perpetual motion and the public reaction to his declaration of success in such a controversial field.  In 1715 he wrote a booklet called Apologia Poetica in which described in somewhat harrowing terms his upbringing, education and his ten year search for the secret of a gravity-enabled wheel.  He then describes the moment when he gained success; followed by marriage to a former girlfriend.  Up to that moment he was triumphant and full of optimism, but that mood didn't last.  The men he continually referred to as his enemies, had hassled him publically from the start of his first announcement that he had built a perpetual motion machine.  They published slanderous tracts claiming to know how the scam, as they saw it, was carried out.  These offensive comments were easily dismissed by examining the demonstrations, but mud sticks and it wasn't until Karl the Landgrave granted Bessler his protection that the public accusations stopped.

It is absolutely clear from Bessler's writing in Apologia Poetica, that Bessler was desperate to prove these enemie's accusations were lies.  His life was full of stress and he must have been in a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from these adverse and demanding circumstances.To us reading the words of all parties involved it is clear that Bessler felt humiliated, offended and desperate to clear his name, a requirement which should not have been necessary given Karl's verification and the demonstrations suggested by Leibniz. Nevertheless, although their criticism was muted while under Karl's protection, as soon as Bessler left Kassel to live in Karlshafen, they re-emerged with the same public complaints, this time trying to get Bessler arrested on a trumped up charge of fraud.  This was dismissed immediately by Karl who knew the truth.

So is it any wonder that his language in Apologia Poetica was from time to time full of bitterness and bile, hatred for his enemies and frequent appeals to God to witness his appalling mistreatment?

JC

26 comments:

  1. I feel Bessler could have silenced his critics and thereby alleviated his own angst toward those critics by at some stage during the public displays at Merseburg or Weissenstien simply revealing the wheel.

    However, his insistence upon reward first was stronger. Who can blame him? He had given up a lot to discover the wheel. And after all it is scriptural that the workman is worth his wages. He can therefore be forgiven for letting money get the better of him. I can't help thinking though that there was something that he may have been blind to. Although he had given a lot of time, effort, and of his finance probably, in seeking the wheel he may have forgotten that the wheel itself was just reward from God who had shown and given him deeply hidden knowledge.

    I sometimes feel that God may have wanted him to freely give as he had freely received. We should remember that all that we have comes to us by the grace of God and that our very lives are due to his creativity and our beings are immersed in his universe. I don't believe anyone can "see" how to build a PM wheel unless God reveals it to them. So the will of a man against the will of God played out to mans detriment. May God forgive us.

    Perhaps even if Bessler could have agreed to a lesser amount we all would have been better off today. The workman is worth his wages and Bessler could have still achieved his dreams of a Christian education establishment by the blessing of God and his fellow man after his wondrous achievement.
    However Bessler could not see this and sought to secure it all instantly and the amount he was asking for, God was not happy with.
    He seemed to put his security and reliance on money instead of God.

    I'm not saying that Bessler was a bad Christian. Just a fallible one as all Christians are (and indeed all humans). In fact, for him to learn the language of mechanics at such a high level that his mind became open to understanding the words of mechanics that God eventually conveyed to him made him an outstanding one.

    Zhyyra

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    1. No, you got it wrong.

      The money was intended to be used to found a school, based on Christians principles.

      The school was to provide a basic instruction in all the arts and crafts of the period
      and would also instil in the pupils a sense of duty and respect.

      Please don't respond on religious matters if you have not gotten into things on the subject.

      Delete
    2. I'm fully aware what the money was to be used for. All I'm saying is that I believe that God could still have helped him with his intentions without the money up front. Hence I said " ...Bessler could have still achieved his dreams of a Christian education establishment by the blessing of God and his fellow man after his wondrous achievement."

      I could care less about "religious matters" as you perceive them. I seek only truth.

      Here is the type of religion that interests me:
      James 1v27: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

      Zhyyra

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  2. You are quite right about Bessler...money took away the better part...Greed is an evil root...Did he realize that... Probably Bessler's dream blinded him...It is possible he thought that his dream engineer in school was more important in serving humanity than revealing wheel secret to the world...Well, now we need to understand rightly if the Bessler wheel is efficient enough to mitigate energy related problem...Or is it outdated already?...

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  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nQVgQ5EvhU

    PLMKRN

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    1. I tried copy and paste but no good, I find that, sometimesYouTube restricts access To other countries. Are you US based?

      JC

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    2. No, I´m not based in US, rather closer to your fathers origin - land of kiiking!

      PLMKRN

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    3. My dad was originally from a small village near Vilnius in Lithuania, but moved to Poland with his job and then joined the army before coming to the UK.

      JC

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    4. John, have you visited Lithuania?
      If no, then you should visit ... if possible, then all Baltic states ... especially Estonia! I can make some local tour ... and show to you things that only some chosen eyes have seen.

      PLMKRN

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    5. I would love to visit Lithuania but it's looking less likely, but I haven't given up on the idea, and thanks for the offer to show mexaround, it'd love that.

      JC

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  4. Checked, link is valid. Try to copy and paste this link or search from youtube - PLMKRN Fourth Video

    This non-working-electronic-media/program/shortcut/... things (not the wheel)... I allready get used to this kind of strange "not working" attributes in my revealing path.

    PLMKRN

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  5. Hi All,
    Still working on my Wheel, have had great progress, I fully expect to have it working in the next month. Of course I have been making my own parts since there is no "Gravity Wheels Are Us" out there to buy them. Well timed catches and springs are the norm but how to place them. I have been on this for ten years and the more i work on it the more it seems possible, if not just out of reach. If all goes well i plan to patent as i believe this is the fastest path to proliferation of the wheel.
    I feel i can just look at the wheel and tell why it will not (or will) work, how the weights will move in the spinning environment of the wheel. I am sure many of you that actually build real world models have reached this point too.
    I believe that Bessler left miscues on purpose so finding it through his writings is impossible, He worked hard and worked things through and that is the path I see as most productive. Gravity is already used to make electricity, it's called hydro electric, just that they use the medium of water to pull through turbines, we seek a way to just use a clever arrangement of weights

    I'll keep all of you informed

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    1. Hi Alaskabob, good to hear from you again and I'm pleased your stilll working on the wheel! You're right in my opinion, about the use of gravity and I think we share that feeling of what will work.

      My own preference is to avoid the patent route, but each must choose their own method of dissemination and I wish you luck.

      JC

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  6. Great....How many weights have you employed?...If it is not eight then the outcome may not be positive...I think the minimum number of weights should be eight for the one directional wheel...You are right about gravity... Bessler wheel uses weights instead of falling or flowing water pressure... The entire game inside are played out by levers and weights...

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  7. I think everyone here should watch some documentaries about watchmaking and clockworks. It is very inspirational.

    yellow

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  8. John, I am in the school, that after making many 8 ft models, that there is a way to make this thing work. That the eye witness accounts are extremely valuable, and that Karl did not do us any favors with this explanation. His confirmation that the wheel was genuine is a real plus for Bessler, and of course his support through a job and the prestige of being part of the inner circle was beyond measure. It is good to hear of others who have the diligence like Alaska Bobb who are up to his ass in alligators and saw dust in his pursuit. Actually building and having a view of the resultant actions allows one to see things happen that cannot be seen any other way. The mind that directs us all has the answer and when it is released and those who are able to accept the frequency will all "SEE" for the first time in 300 years the action and interactions that are required to achieve this wondrous event. To have spent oneself in a noble cause such as this, to be covered in dust and sweat and blood allows one to stand with the few who have spent their efforts to a valuable end. That those who stand on the side and throw stones and barbs at those who are actually in the arena will never know the great triumphant feeling of success, we are going to succeed and it will be this year...... 8 weights and they work in pairs

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  9. I would like to add a comment to this forum: if you're going to build a gravity powered wheel just remember, the weights MUST shift to the overbalanced position just before 12 and 6 o'clock. Otherwise, any attempt to make it rotate with the weights in any other position will be futile. This is a fact that is well established.

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  10. I agree... Weights must start shifting from 6 pm onwards... Gravity again makes this possible... Gravity plays both roles... Pulling down and lifting up... This is the hidden mystery technique... Whoever can get this right has solved the secret...

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  11. I've come up with a simple way that allows all 8 weights to stay near the rim of the wheel. But at the same time, there is ALWAYS more weight on the descending side. In fact, the weights move closer together on the descending side but remain the same distance from each other on the ascending side. 5 of the weights are closer together on the descending side and the other 3 weights on the ascending side are evenly spaced as they rise to the 12 o'clock position. At about the 11:55 position, the top weight shifts to the right and crosses the zenith and remains out of balance as it descends. The weight that's near the 6 o'clock position, shifts in a counter clockwise position until it stops at the 5 o'clock position and continues its path back to the ascending side of the wheel. Bessler said that one weight moved further away from the center of the wheel while the other moved closer to the center. But, he didn't say that the weights where in the horizontal position when they go off balance. Might it be that the weights are closer and further away from the center of gravity in the vertical position? I have no doubts that this is the way his weights inside his wheel worked.

    Any thoughts on this?

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    1. I'm not the expert pmman, so don't let my words put you off, but you asked my opinion, and I say again, why does everyone assume eight,weights? Only the two way Kassel wheel reported eight sounds on weights landing gently on the side toward which it turned, and Von Erlach used the word 'about'. This sounds like there was some confusion in identifying how many weights were heard and supports the possibity of sound-deadening one or more weights. Or the addition of sounds to aid confusion. I'm sure that Von Erlach would have stated that there were definitelty eight weights heard if he was sure about it. And this report refers to a two way wheel, which may have had more weights than the simpler one way versions.

      JC

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  12. By the way, what did Bessler mean when he said that his wheel resembles a grind stone? Was hinting to some part of or hidden part of his wheel?

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    1. I've always thought he was describing both the shape and heaviness of a grind stone. With the weights on the wheel it would have been rather like a flywheel, although I doubt they had such a concept then, so a grindstone is the nearest thing.

      JC

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  13. PM...Your design does not sound like Bessler's... Actually, all weights are fixed equidistant...It doesn't matters how many extra weights you have on the descending side...It is how far they are from the center that counts..If you have even three weights farthest then the job is done...I think that Bessler meant it in the horizontal plane...

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  14. well, I truly appreciate the feedback from you and John. Only time and a working model will tell if I'm right.

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  15. What's your opinion John? Does what I wrote make sense to you? Or, has the way I described my thoughts as to how Bessler's wheel might work seem plausible?

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The True Story of Bessler’s Perpetual Motion Machine.

On  6th June, 1712, in Germany, Johann Bessler (also known by his pseudonym, Orffyreus) announced that after many years of failure, he had s...