As most of us know I am a firm believer that Johann Bessler’s wheel was driven by 5 mechanisms, not 4, 6 or 8. The evidence is so strong that sometimes I feel absolutely confounded by the seemingly universal dismissal of my most strongly stated opinion about this matter. I would point out that no one has succeeded in duplicating Bessler’s wheel, (myself also although I plan do so asap) but if I’m right then all who dismiss this idea will ultimately fail in reviving this lost treasure.
Despite some harsh comments about my intentions, I will continue to work to finish this project and publish the results when I have something tangible to share.
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I think most of us are familiar with Bessler’s Maschinen Tractate (MT) and in particular the ‘Toys’ page and its curious numbering. At the foot of the page the numbers 138, 139,140 and 141. This totals 558. The 55 seems a popular number for Bessler, but what of the 8? Well the three numbers in 558 total 18 and that is the basic number in the pentagram, all the angles are multiples of 18. So that might be his intention., but later we’ll see further information about this suggestion.
MT 137 comes just before the toys page, as it should, but before that is MT 136 which contains a mechanical construction and is the last figure containing any such thing. MT137 shows a duodecagram, which is easily identified as circles of fifths, a well-known term used in musical theory. It is believed to point to the importance of the number 5. It also reveals the reason for the choice of number MT137.
Below is the image MT137, with the number 5 linked to 12.
On a clock face the time at 5 o’clock looks like the image below.
The angles between the hands is shown in the picture below.
Thus we see the reason for numbering MT137 as he did.
We can also see that he also embeds the golden ratio or mean as described by Fibonacci and Plato, in the picture below. This version comes from Euclid, 300BC.
To inscribe an equilateral and equiangular pentagon in a given circle….”
It seems as though Bessler intended there to be 141 images but having hidden or destroyed many of them that revealed the secret of his machine he was attempting to fill in the gap between his last image of a mechanical construction, MT136, and the Toys page image to total 141. But there was more to this than meets the eye. What other reasons might there be for choosing to accentuate the number141 ? Why else load the last image (the “Toys” page) and add four numbers to the bottom of the page?
The only factors of 141 are 3 and 47, and I’ve shown how Bessler embedded Euclid’s 47 th proposition describing how to construct a pentagram. So was this yet another hint.
See the image below, of the Toys page.
The items are lettered ABCDE, but C and D appear twice. To add to the confusion there is a plainly written 5, which might match the five lettered images but doesn’t seem to as there is rough drawing of a spinning top, lacking its string pull. Confusing?
Splitting the drawings into five parts reveals some information. In each division in 'A', you can see, drawn vertically, two uprights surmounted by a single one.. They bear a striking resemblance to the figures labelled 'C' and 'D', which are shown horizontally. But why two 'C' and 'D's? I think only one hammer is needed in 'C' plus the parallel rods. The same in 'D' but the hammer used is rotated around the other way to point outwards or to the left, because of the spirals and it also lacks arms.
So for me ‘C’ is an active part at the same time ‘D’ is passive. ‘A’ shows ‘C’ figures connected by a single rope or cord when ‘C’ falls it pulls ‘D’ up.
The item marked 'E' is the storks-bill, lazy tongs, scissor jacks or whatever you prefer to call them. Item '5' is a spinning top, just in case no one makes the connection that this is all about a rotating device. Without its cord or string it can’t work, just the same the other items on the Toys page. Maybe he’s suggesting the missing string, is present in Item ‘A’?
Item ‘B’ in my opinion represents the storks bill looked at from above with the alternate blobs showing the pins holding the storks bill together. Looking along the drawing the red lines connect two of the outer pins and two inner ones plus one more for the weight.
The top end of item ‘A’ shows the weight attached to the end of a lever. It shows two positions; one when the storks bill is closed and shortened; the other with the storks bill extended.
JC
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