I and some of my fellow researchers, believe that Johann Bessler intended to leave a number of clues which once deciphered would reveal the workings of his wheel. This was to protect his invention, and still have his name immortalised, should he die before he was able to sell it. I have studied all of his drawing over the last several decades and it has been difficult, to find the exact information needed to replicate Bessler’s wheel, but I have found a lot of clues, mostly not immediately helpful. The clues are fairly easy to find but their meaning is not so obvious.
After his death, a piece of paper was found upon which the inventor had scribbled a message. It reads,
Further demonstrations regarding the possibility and impossibility of perpetual motion.
‘N.B. 1st May, 1733. Due to the arrest, I burned or buried all the woodcuts that prove the possibility. However, I have left all demonstrations and experiments since it would be difficult for anybody to see or learn anything about a perpetual motion from them or to decide whether there was any truth in them because no illustration by itself contains a description of the motion; however, taking various illustrations together and combining them with a discerning mind, it will indeed be possible to look for a movement and find the Besslerwheel action in them'.
I’ve posted a copy of the note below. It’s rough and hardly legible but the meaning is clear
This is another example of Bessler sowing confusion by providing ambiguous
Pinformation. On the one hand he’s telling us that he has burned or buried certain woodcuts which prove the possibility of perpetual motion. I assume he burnt all the drawings that were on paper, but buried the actual woodcuts from which he could print. But he then he suggests that someone with a discerning mind might still find the solution by studying various illustrations.
I understand why many people assume he was referring to MT, because the message was written on the back of one of pages from MT. But in my opinion I think he was hinting that there was another source of information leading to the answers and it could be found by studying other illustrations. This note was written in 1733: long after GB, AP and DT had been published, but MT wasn’t even finished and he had no plans to publish it. So he didn’t necessarily mean just those in MT. I refer to the ones in GB, AP and DT.
At the end of his hastily scribbled note, I believe I see the word for ‘infinite’ or ‘unending’, which seems to have been omitted in the English translation. So that phrase should read ‘… t will indeed be possible to look for an unending movement and, finally find one in them'.
I also see what appears to be Bessler’s favourite icon or symbol, the circumpunct, representing his wheel. This suggests that the last line might be intended say, ‘….it will indeed be possible to look for a movement and, finally to find my perpetual motion wheel in them'. See the circumpunct as Bessler’s wheel in the image at the top of this page.
Bessler wrote in his book, Apologia Poetica, “Those who are keen to ask questions should ask them of this little book. My work will not be revealed prematurely.” He wrote this hint about hiding his secret in the AP book way back in 1717, so I doubt that he was alluding to his MT.
There are a number of different clues which are designed to point anyone who seeks to solve this puzzle, in the right direction, but they don’t necessarily form part of the solution. They are framed to concentrate the mind in the correct part of one or more of the drawings, from which you must extract the right configuration. All of the drawings contain valuable information but it is not easy to make the correct choice or know what is useful and what is a deliberately inserted clue to confuse or divert attention from the right interpretation. There are almost invisible lines, hinted at but not drawn in, so the images require extensive and prolonged study to understand what Bessler was showing us.
Apparently every picture tells a story and although the GB one seems similar to the first one in DT, there are subtle differences which seem to point in other directions. I don’t want fill this space, detailing all the nuances of the pictures, suffice to say, I have described many of the clues I have found over many years both here and on my other websites. But to be honest I’ve never described the way to decipher the drawings, but I believe I’ve made enough headway to complete my latest model.
Of course I don’t know if it will work, but this configuration is new to me. So fingers crossed……again!
JC
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