Johann Bessler’s Inspirational Dream

Three hundred and eleven years ago Johann Bessler, aka Orffyreus, exhibited something he called a perpetual motion machine.  It took the form of a wheel mounted between two pillars or supports. It rotated at about 50 RPM, and would begin to turn as soon the brake was released.  He welcomed the public who examined the device.  They were allowed to stop it, start it, or slow it down. He didn’t allow anyone to see the interior because he intended to sell the machine for £20,000.

Most people are convinced it was a fraudulent enterprise.

There are those who believe Bessler’s Wheel was genuine but don’t know where the energy came from to drive it.  

Others who accept Bessler’s words that the weights were the energy source and therefore accept that gravity provided the energy.  The problem they encounter is that we have been taught that gravity is not an energy source because it’s a force. 

The situation has resulted in deadlock.  The circumstantial evidence that Bessler’s wheel was genuine is compelling.  It’s  legitimacy was verified by the only person besides Bessler, who was permitted to study the internal workings.  This man, Karl the Landgrave of Hesse Kassel, was chosen because his reputation as an honest person of great integrity had been established over many years, acting as an honest broker trying to bring the wars that were then currently being waged throughout Europe to an agreeable end. 

His excellent reputation was critical to his role as an impartial mediator and he would never have become involved in anything of questionable authenticity. His name was a vital part of the verification, but he only accepted that role if he was permitted access to the internal structure of the wheel to confirm what Bessler claimed was true.  He described it as quite simple and expressed surprise that it hadn’t been discovered before.  He issued an official document, certifying that the claims that Bessler made regarding his perpetual motion machine or wheel, were correct.

This leaves us with an interesting paradox.  We have been taught for more than three hundred years, that perpetual motion machines defy the laws of physics, yet it would appear that this may not be true

So we have two points of view to consider. Here’s a quick reminder.

Bessler swore his machine was genuine

Karl agreed and issued a certificate stating in his opinion, the wheel was genuine

Every test devised simply added to the evidence that Bessler told the truth.  

Who is right, Bessler or the venerable scientific institutions?

Bessler began by simply showing his first wheel, spinning and being stopped and starting again.  It always began turning as soon as a brake was released. Spectators were encouraged to thoroughly examine the device but not allowed to view the interior.

News of the wheel reached the ears of that famous man of science, Gottfried Leibniz. He arranged a private meeting with Bessler to study the machine’s performance and concluded that it was a valuable machine.  He suggested a number of tests that Bessler should incorporate in his public exhibitions of the machine to persuade potential buyers of the machine’s merit.

The tests included stopping and starting the wheel, including running it in either direction.  This was a new step by Bessler who wished to make his machine able to rotate in either direction in order to silence those who claimed his machine was wound up by clockwork, this required the wheel be given a gentle nudge in either desired direction before the wheel began to turn and accelerate to its full speed. Other tests included  translocation of the device from one set of bearings to another a few paces away; allowing intense examination of both sets of bearings before and after translocation; demonstrations of the wheel’s power in lifting heavy loads and driving an Archimedes screw pump were routinely demonstrated.  Finally a 54 day test in which it was locked in a room, with a 24 hour guard outside the door.  The wheel was made to begin rotating and the room locked and sealed with Karl’s personal seal.  The rooms on either side and above and below had already been checked for some connection with the locked room.  All was found satisfactory.  After 54 days, Karl unlocked the door and he and a number of witnesses found the wheel still spinning.

So what is the answer to this paradox?  It’s clear from the history of this particular area of study that literally thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people have sought a solution to this puzzle, from the earliest inhabitants of Egypt, Sumer, the Indus valley and China up to the present day.  It seems that there is an inbuilt instinct that a device such as Bessler built is an absolute certainty if only we could discover how to build it.  Johann Bessler knew; he built a working model.

The evidence is clear, a machine which is enabled by the force of gravity to run and run, is simply waiting to be rediscovered. It’s not perpetual motion because it could come to a stop through wear and tear, accident, overloading etc. But it could run continuously without using any of the traditional sources of energy such as running water, wind, fire or the modern equivalents.

How?  Bessler said the weights provided the energy.  Energy is a property of the weights in Bessler’s wheel, but they have to be moved by the force of gravity. The weights provide a medium through which gravity can supply energy by moving them, making them fall.  

We’re all familiar with the need to lift the fallen weights at each revolution. Bessler discovered the method, it came to him in a dream, maybe a daydream.  He found the answer and in his books he provided codes and clues and hints, indicating everything we need to know to duplicate his work.  

I believe that I have found the answer and am currently building a model which I hope will be a working model! I too found inspiration in the middle of the night, lying awake considering everything.  This happened a few months ago and I’ve been working on how to make the best of use my of sudden comprehension.  Of course I have been here countless times over the last 50 years or so, but I’m confident that I have the right configuration and am trying to finish this build and then working or not, I’ll share what I believe is the solution to this very long search for the truth.

JC