Inspiration, perspiration and simulation

I find that during sleep, sometimes the unconscious goes to work on a problem which has exercised my mind during the day and occasionally presents the solution in the early hours of the morning. Last night was typical and I now understand one point about Bessler's descriptions that had lain in a corner of my mind as an inexplicable fact. Of course once I understood the reasons for it, it all made perfect sense.

These sleep induced revelations are a blessing in one way and a nuisance in another. I cannot usually get back to sleep afterwards, as I have become so excited at the prospect of applying my new found understanding to my prototype wheel. By the way I use the word 'revelation' not in a religious sense but as an enlightening or astonishing disclosure.

I am constantly amazed at the ability of the human mind to 'invent' new mechanical configurations over a period of time and yet I see it in operation with surprising frequency and I think that I don't always appreciate the subtleties and nuances of each design. I mean that, in my own case, often I can examine and test a particular configuration and finally put it aside as being of no practical use in my search for a working gravity wheel, only to discover at a later date a new and subtle variation which shows promise. I have now found myself rebuilding a mechanism which I thought I had thoroughly tested and rejected previously because it now forms the basis of a new theory which was recently revealed to me in the middle of the night.

It is for this reason that I discarded a popular method of searching for a solution, i.e. computer simulation software. I'm convinced that a solution will only be found by a 'hands-on' approach where someone actually builds each mechanism and tests it. It's only by seeing how the different pieces interact that you can vary designs by minute amounts that are not apparent in a simulation.

It has been said (Thomas Alva Edison, I think) that genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, well I'm no genius but I'd say that if I do succeed in reconstructing Besslers wheel it will take similar percentages of effort.

'Confidence is high', as the Americans say. I am certain that I can explain everything about Bessler's wheel within the current laws of physics. I am satisfied that there is no other force or outside agency required for the wheel to work, other than gravity. This, I know, goes against the belief of many, however once it is explained it will become obvious to all.

JC

What are the clues in the Orffyreus Code?

This a follow-up to Thursday's blog, as I received several emails asking me to clarify what the clues are.

The first and most obvious clue lies in Bessler's pseudonym, Orffyreus. Everyone knows how it was arrived at but no one seems to have known why he chose it. The system he used, known as atbash, invented by Jewish scribes, was a way of disguising proper names and was used in the Old Testament. The alphabet was divided in two and the second half aligned under the first half. Letters comprising the names of certain people were substituted with those letters appearing under or over them.

The questions that have not been satisfactorily answered until recently, are, why did he bother creating a pseudonym, and why did he choose this name and this method? The answer to why he had a pseudonym was alluded to in my blog earlier this week; it was to create a method which could be used to hide vital information about the construction of his machine. The name, Orffyreus, arose from the use of the atbash cipher as I explained and was designed to lead one to search for further indications of this method. Other examples exist within Bessler's written works, but they don't seem to help us get more information. Bessler himself, wrote that those who sought answers would do well to read his books and the truth is that there are answers there but they are not obvious and require some effort to decipher the clues once they have been found.

Typical clues are, a list of 141 references to chapters and verses from the bible; and page of verse which appears to be full of metaphors; and many examples of chronograms. A chronogram is a sentence or inscription in which certain letters, can also be interpreted as numerals, thus standing for a particular date when rearranged. The word, meaning "time writing", derives from the Greek words chronos ("time") and gramma ("letter"). Bessler was
particularly fond of this method of enciphering a date.

There are other clues which once found are not difficult to decipher but are extremely well hidden. These I have deciphered and as a consequence I know the basic concept behind Bessler's wheel and I shall be working hard to build a demo model as proof of the principle. I am convinced that it is only a matter of months before a working model is made - either by myself or by others who appear to be close to success.

JC

What exactly is the Orffyreus Code?

The code consists of a number of pieces of information about Bessler's wheel, which the inventor included in much of his published works. This information was disguised so that it could not be easily recognised for what it was and deciphered before he had been rewarded.

Details of the wheel's construction form the majority of the information and one can only assume that the inventor did it for one or two possible reasons. One - he needed to have published information which he could point to in case some one else also found a solution to building a gravity converter to prove he was the first and two - he could leave proof that he had indeed discovered the solution if he should die before he had had a chance to obtain some kind of reward for his efforts. I tend to think the latter is the real reason because he actually mentions the possibility in one of his works.

There must too have been the hugely enjoyable prospect of being able to point to the clues after he had sold the secret and laugh at all the nay-sayers who said he was a fraud and that the proof had been in front of them all the time.

JC

Ironic surgery

The weather has been warmer for the last week - at last! I've done some jobs outside that have been waiting for me for months - since last November to be precise.

I went for a routine medical check up this time last year and my blood count was very low. "No problem", the Doc said, "but just to be sure we'll monitor it over the next three months". Well of course it didn't improve and so I was booked in for an x-ray and cat scan. "Ah ha!" They said, "there's a lump, but don't worry, it's probably nothing but just to be sure we'll book you in for a bronchoscopy". So I had a general anaesthetic and then they shoved lights, cameras and some kind of biopsy grabbing tool - which could not only cut and scrape but bring back whatever it found to the light of day and the pathology lab. - down my throat. After a couple of weeks they called me to say that they had good news and bad news. "Oh great!", I thought, "a doctor with a sense of humour," just what I need!"

"OK, so tell me the worst". "Its a tumour, but its a benign one". "Hurrah!" I exclaimed. "Ah well it's not all good news, you see it might turn nasty or grow bigger or just sit there doing nothing for years and then suddenly flare up. Best have it out".

"Riiigggghhhhtttt. So how big is it?" "Oh, only tiny really, maybe an inch by half an inch". "Oh thats no so bad. How do you get at it, keyhole surgery?" "No actually we'll go in from the back while you're under a general anaesthetic and takeout the the top third of your right lung". "What!!!!!"

So they did it on November 5th. I'm back and well enough but the ironic feature of this is that by the time I was operated on my blood count had returned to normal and was thought to be due to a bad chest infection I had been suffering from - not the tumour!