The Legend of Bessler's Wheel and my latest Update

I'm putting the brief account of Johann Bessler's Wheel back up for a short time because I am concentrating on writing (rewriting!) an account of the codes I've deciphered and explaining just how they apply to Bessler's wheel.  I'm sure that I have finally got to the solution but my saying so doesn't make it so, and I have two options, one is to make the wheel according to my perceived design, courtesy of Bessler - and the other is describe everything in detail including all coded material, how the wheel worked and including photos of my own wheel, step by step. from start to finish. I'm taking both options.

I plan to make a video of the wheel and show how I obtained the solution but that may take a little longer and I have procrastinated for too long!  Time is slipping by and I must begin work in earnest on building the wheel itself, and write my account of it too, so the video will have to wait.  

So I shall close the comments feature after a few days and get to work on the wheel - at last!  I'll update things here as and when there is something to show.

THE LEGEND OF BESSLER'S WHEEL

The legend of Bessler’s Wheel began on 6th June 1712, when Johann Bessler announced that he had invented a perpetual motion machine and he would be exhibiting it in the town square in Gera, Germany, on that day.  Everyone was free to come and see the machine running.  It took the form of a wheel mounted between two pillars and ran continuously until it was stopped or its parts wore out. The machine attracted huge crowds.  Although they were allowed to examine its external appearance thoroughly, they could not view the interior, because the inventor wished to sell the secret of its construction for the sum of 10,000 pounds – a sum equal to several millions today.

News of the invention reached the ears of high ranking men, scientists, politicians and members of the aristocracy.  They came and examined the machine, subjected it to numerous tests and concluded that it was genuine. Only one other man, Karl, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, was allowed to view the interior and he testified that the machine was genuine. He is a man well-known in history as someone of the greatest integrity, and  the negotiations between Bessler and Karl took place against a background in which Karl acted as honest broker between the warring nations of Europe; a situation which required his absolute rectitude both in appearance and in action.

There were several attempts to buy the wheel, but negotiations always failed when they reached an impasse – the buyer wished to examine the interior before parting with the money, and the inventor fearing that once the secret was known the buyer would simply leave without paying and make his own perpetual motion machine, would not permit it.  Sadly, after some thirty years or more, the machine was lost to us when the inventor fell to his death during construction of another of his inventions, a vertical axle windmill.

However, the discovery of a series of encoded clues has led many to the opinion that the inventor left instructions for reconstructing his wheel, long after his death.  The clues were discovered during the process of investigating the official reports of the time which seemed to rule out any chance of fraud, hence the  interest in discovering the truth about the legend of Bessler’s wheel.

My own curiosity was sparked by the realisation that an earlier highly critical account by Bessler's maid-servant, which explained how the wheel was fraudulently driven, was so obviously flawed and a lie, that I was immediately attracted to do further research. In time I learned that there was no fraud involved, so the wheel was genuine and the claims of the inventor had to be taken seriously.

The tests which the wheel was subjected to involved lifting heavy weights from the castle yard to the roof, driving an Archimedes water pump and an endurance test lasting 56 days under lock and key and armed guard.  Bessler also organised demonstrations involving running the wheel on one set of bearings opened for inspection – and then transferring the device to a second set of open bearings, both sets having been examined to everyone’s satisfaction, both before, after and during the examination.

So the only problem is that modern science denies that Bessler's wheel was possible, but my own research has shown that this conclusion is wrong.  There is no need for a change in the laws of physics, as some  have suggested, we simply haven't covered every possible scenario in the evaluating the number of possible configurations.

I have produced copies of all Bessler's publications, with English translations.  They can be obtained by clicking on the appropriate links on the right.

JC

Why a Gravity-wheel is said to be impossible - but isn't!

The common explanation for the failure of a perpetual motion machine to run continuously, is often explained in a simple phrase - energy in, equals energy out.

As Dr. Donald E. Simanek, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, explains, https://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/museum/peopl/people.htm 
"all motions of the wheel and its parts are repeated exactly during each complete revolution. So if a weight moves to a larger radius once per cycle, it must also be pulled back to the original radius later during the cycle. The work done in changing the radius by a certain amount from large to small is equal and opposite to the work done in changing the radius by the same amount from small to large. We gain no net energy per cycle."  

This is true and demonstrates why all the 'experts' refuse to accept Bessler's claims to have designed and built a working perpetual motion machine.  But the description he gives above does not cover all possibilities.  I know of at least two alternative concepts that will avoid his conclusion.  In fairness to him I know he showed a number of historic designs which clearly did not work and perhaps he was only referring to them.  The designs all depend on the use of gravity as an enabling medium, as do mine and many others - notice I did not say energy source!

I know (and have known and believed for at least 40 years!) that gravity does not provide the energy for a theoretical gravity wheel, but the falling weights do.  It's a curious fact, this assertion that gravity is not an energy source, because we tap it every day in the form of falling weight clocks, falling water to generate electricity and possibly a hundred other ways we depend on upon its existence.

It isn't a source of energy, but if it isn't then what is it?.  If, as I and many other here believe, Bessler used the falling weights to drive his wheel, they provided the energy to make it rotate, but without the force of gravity to make the weights fall, then the wheel wouldn't turn.

Current energy sources include solar, wind, water, geothermal, nuclear energy and of course coal, oil and natural gas.  Some of these terms describe the source before conversion to usable energy.  Our potential use of falling weights also uses gravity energy before conversion.  Yet gravity is not a source of energy but the others listed above all are.

My personal opinion is that those who criticise the notion that the energy comes from gravity are being pedantic.  Even though I knew that gravity isn't an energy source way back in the 1970s I still believe that because it causes objects of mass to fall, that action can be turned to advantage.  It's like criticising the term 'petrol' or 'gas' or 'diesel' engine because it isn't the liquid fuel that supplies the energy, but rather the heat or explosive force that the fuel provides when it ignites.  The fuel, like gravity is an enabler.  One thing I'm sure of is that 'gravity wheel' or 'gravity engine' is how they will be referred to in the media, once they are verified as legitimate.

On the other hand we refer to water wheels, as driven by water and not as gravity-enabled.  But by implication we assume that the steam engine is driven by steam and not by water, we still have to heat the water to get the steam which expands to drive a piston.  We might call it an external combustion engine as opposed to the internal combustion engine referred to above.

We know what we mean by these energy terms so when I say the gravity wheel taps the energy of gravity you know what I mean.

Any way be assured that Mr Simanek is right as far as he goes but he has not considered any possible work-arounds, and they hold the key. I look forward to the day he discovers the true Bessler's perpetual motion machine

JC

Mike Senior - Translator of Johann Bessler's Works, has Passed away.

Back in 1996 I had all these pieces of paper all in German, which were the culmination of many years research into the life of Johann Bessler.  I was utterly stuck because I had all this information and I could not read it.  I had copies of 'Grundlicher Bericht', 'Apologia Poetica' and 'Das Triumphirende', in my hands and no way of knowing what it said.  I obtained quotes for translating it and I recall DT was going to cost in excess of £3000!  No way could I have afforded that.

With little hope of success I wrote a letter to the local newspaper explaining my situation and asking if there was anyone who might like to try and help me out.  Imagine my surprise and pleasure to get not one but five responses!  To cut a long story short, four of them gradually dropped out, only Mike Senior remained.  He turned out to be one in a million.  He was completely computer illiterate and translated everything in handwriting, filled with a profusion of notes about things Bessler had written.

His first task was to translate all the letters and news reports of the day, then he did Gruendlicher Bericht, but his hardest task was Apologia Poetica which unfortunately was in poor condition and nothing like the copies you can download from the internet now.  Some of pages were overprinted from the adjacent page, ink migration, and made reading the text very difficult.  Finally he undertook the mighty Das Triumphirende.  It took many months to obtain finished copies of each book and then I had the task of transcribing his handwritten sheest of paper onto my computer, readying it for printing and then finding a method of obtaining finished printed copies.

Mike and I met many times for a beer etc, he enjoyed strong beer with whisky chasers, but not for me, I would have fallen sleep!  We discussed Bessler and his machine and although Mike never believed in Bessler, he did enjoy reading him.

Mike had a degree in 18th century German and spoke German fluently.  He could also recite from memory much ancient Greek literature, also had a degree in Botany and was a permanent freelance researcher for Warwickshire Museum, providing annual reports on the flora of this county.  He was also an avid amateur astronomer and had his own telescope and travelled to witness various eclipses.  He was a regular contributor to one of the top science magazines whose name temporarily escapes me, but I know he was in long running debate on the origin of the universe, string theory and quantum mechanics!  He used to try to explain all this to me but I confess it went clean  over my head.

He was originally a school teacher but got bored repeating himself each year  and said he didn't like kids any way!  So he left to take up his favourite past time which was walking the high ways and byeways of Warwickshire recording all that he saw of a botanical nature.

Latterly he suffered some serious hip problems and had to undergo five hip operations in one year and never really recovered.

I'll miss his great sense of humour and his wonderful laugh; he told some risqué jokes but you could not help but  join in, he was that kind of man.

Please remember Mike, we owe what we know of Bessler's words to him, and to those who seek inaccuracies in his translations, bear in mind he asked me if I wanted something that read well or a literal word for word translation and I chose the former, so Bessler's words carry a flavour of Mike's personal inflections.

Here's to you Mike,

JC