It seems as though our move to our next house is looking at least three months away, so I’ve decided to change my plans. I’m going to complete a drawing of how I believe Bessler’s wheel worked, I’m also trying to complete the book detailing all the information Bessler gave us about how how his wheel worked and I will explain the simple concept which made it work. I will also get a sim made according to my design
The book will be available in both printed and digital format - possibly through my new web site or on Amazon. By the time it’s ready for publication there will be a sim demonstrating how it works, and the sim will be real without any camouflage or deliberate or accidental failure or bugs which prevent anyone viewing it or making their own version. The design is simple to understand although it may take me a while build it, which is why I’m taking the time before we move to try and prepare everything I might need.
I will just point out that over the last twelve years that this blog has been running I have posted details about information I have deciphered from Bessler’s clues and they have generally all been dismissed or ignored. I haven’t minded, but I am kind of surprised that the same errors of misunderstanding or misinterpretation have continued to proliferate and become embedded in the surrounding trivia, so that it become difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.
It was always my intention to offer information based purely on documentary evidence, ignoring from the beginning the assumption that Bessler’s wheel must be a scam because such a machine was said to be impossible. I studied the evidence in those documents and knew that that assumption was wrong.
Some of the translations were mildly inaccurate, but not so much that they misled people. Thanks to the work of several people those inaccuracies were corrected. Thus we have this corpus of texts which should be our starting point. Speculation is useful but it must be recognised as such and not embedded in the rest of the real evidence where it can mislead or slant opinions without foundation.
People are welcome to research this material as they like, but I would urge them to keep it simple and not, for instance try to invent the two-way turning wheel, such as the Merseburg and the Weissenstein wheels. Bessler himself mentions how difficult they were to complete successfully. In which case using the reports by Fischer von Erlach which described the sound of eight weights landing on the side towards which the wheel turned is of no use if you are trying to make a own-way wheel, and why would you want to start with the hardest one to replicate, surely the simplest one, the one-way wheel is the one to start with?
So I believe that once people can see my work on deciphering Bessler’s clues and the solution, the sound of headdesking will be like a worldwide rolling roar of thunder - an example of a physical expression of extreme frustration, aggravation and annoyance or resignation that you didn’t see it yourself!
John
ReplyDeleteyou sound refreshed!
Yep. A new year, another birthday, a new house and finally a decision to share my discoveries.
DeleteJC
JC wrote "I would urge them to keep it simple and not, for instance try to invent the two-way turning wheel... using the reports by Fischer von Erlach which described the sound of eight weights landing on the side towards which the wheel turned is of no use if you are trying to make a one-way wheel..."
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you think that B's smaller diameter one way wheels didn't also make eight sounds per rotation? B was obsessed with keeping his wheels as quiet as possible and could have used enough cushioning to deaden those eight sounds in his smaller one way wheels.
It looks like you are trying to stealthily get away from the two way wheels so you will be free to have as many weights as you want to inside of any wheel design you claim is B's. Also, you don't have to worry about the sticky issue of pendulums for the smaller wheels since we have no drawings of those wheels. But, I think if your one way wheel design is not capable of somehow making eight sounds per wheel rotation, it will not be accepted as the one B used unless you can provide some very convincing clues that it could make more or less than eight sounds per rotation.
I’m not saying that the smaller diameter wheels did not make eight sounds per rotation, I was pointing out that that description applied to the Kassel two-way wheel, and because Bessler described the difficulties he encountered building the two-way wheels then the apparently simpler one-way wheels would be easier to build. Relying on the eight sounds as coming from all the wheels is simply limiting your options to finding easier ways of building the one-way wheels.
DeleteBessler was not bothered about the noise coming from his earlier wheels, this quote from a letter to Gottfried Leibniz , “Having made an appointment with the inventor, we approached the machine and noticed that it was secured by a cord to the rim of the wheel. Upon the cord being released, the machine began to rotate with great force and noise, maintaining its speed with out increasing or decreasing it for some considerable time.” There is no concern there with his second wheel about noise and the same kind of comment was applied to his first wheel.
I’m not trying to do anything “stealthily”, I’m expressing my opinion. I will be providing some very convincing clues about Bessler’s wheel, regardless of how many sounds per rotation it could make. Maybe there will be eight sounds from the smaller wheels, maybe fewer, but since that number was only applied to the largest two-way wheel, it makes sense to keep it simple.
JC
From AP "If I arrange to have just one cross-bar in the machine, it revolves very slowly, just as if it can hardly turn itself at all, but, on the contrary, when I arrange several bars, pulleys and weights, the machine can revolve much faster".
ReplyDeleteWhat if the sim is not working?
ReplyDeleteOr you mean an animation?
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteSince to do a sim of my idea, a 3D version would probably be required, and I can't even do a 2D one, and to make a model is proving difficult, I've decided to reveal it, so someone more talented than myself can have a go. It will also save me from any headdesking, if it turns out to be the same as yours, and to prove that I didn't just claim it to be so after the fact.
The main component of the mechanism is a Pentagon, pivoted at each corner, this is not attached to the wheel, but turns around a square hub, at the wheels centre.
It is held in place / manoeuvred by four weighted levers, the same shape as the side scrolls in Bessler's logo.
When the two sides pivoted to the base of the Pentagon are squeezed by two of the levers, it forms what I call a barn shape, the " roof " of the barn, ^, being above the square hub causes the over balance.
It works between 12, and 3 O'clock, the stampers on the outside, pause the wheel momentarily for the mechanism to reset from 3 to 12 O'clock.
With reference to the toys page, taking out a pivot from the pentagon, and straightening it out will give the linked chain device, if the pantograph toys are moved to the half way point, the axes and handles form the barn shape, the storks Bill's show the action of squeezing the sides to raise the top point of the pentagon, ^.
The "peephole" portrait, has many references to the ^ shape in the mathematical instruments, and the ^ shape is alluded to by the book, and Bessler's hands in the second portrait, and may also be indicated in the stripes on the items on the shelf.
For what ever it's worth, that's my idea.
STEVO
Thank you Stevo, I’m kind of in the same situation as yourself no sim ability, no workshop currently so I can’t build. I want to share but I’m trying to make my explanation as indisputably corrects as I possibly can. My experience has been that no one seems to be interested or bothered to examine theories unless an attempt at a working model has been shown. My description is taking a longer time than I anticipated but I think/hope it will be convincing.
DeleteI like your thinking but I can see it bears no resemblance to my design. If you wish I can post any drawings of your design if you can send them to me?
JC
Simple, so simple that folks won't thinks its worth the money they spent
ReplyDelete