Why Science is wrong about Bessler's Wheel

Science has taught us that perpetual motion machines are impossible, they violate the laws of physics and we are all wasting our time and our lives in chasing this fantasy. It's interesting to look at the support for both the scientific point of view and the dogmatic one.

Science relies initially on theory which is an idea held contingent upon 'evidence'. A theory can be a set of statements supported by evidence  that can be used to predict natural phenomena. Predictions are the fundamental support of theories and they evolve from empirical observations.

Even 'established' laws of physics are still theories though regarded as proven by evidence and the fulfilled predictions based on that evidence, but they are still subject to re-evaluation if either; new evidence comes to light; or a better (simpler) theory comes along that explains the same evidence.

Dogma or doctrine, on the other hand, could be a statement originating from a revelation, vision, image, dream, or thought or any other source of mental origin. Its support is faith. No evidence is required and neither is it necessarily sought. Reliable and consistent predictions are absent from faith related statements. Dogmas may change and evolve exclusively from human decision and not from any empirical observations.

Perpetual motionist's beliefs tend to fall somewhere between science and dogma. Adherents believe, for what seems to them to be good reason, that perpetual motion machines are possible, in particular, gravity enabled machines. I used the word 'enabled' with good reason as we have been told an infinite number of times (it seems!) that gravity is not an energy source. Leaving that aside for a moment, perpetual motionists feel intuitively that a weight driven machine could be made to run continuously with no additional input of energy other than that from falling weights.  It seems so obvious to them, and I include myself,  that we think that science must be wrong - at least in rejecting Bessler's wheel.

But, without a theory explaining how this might be achieved, the disciples of this belief can only be regarded in much the same way as members of a religious faith, who, requiring no evidence other than their own subjective certainty that what they believe must be true, exhibit blind faith when questioned on their convictions.  This may be regarded as too simplistic a view but without evidence to the contrary where does this strong but inexplicable certainty come from?

Well in this case, Johann Bessler's extremely convincing demonstrations of his wheels provides the strongest evidence ever reported about such machines.  The vast majority of people dismiss the very idea that Johann Bessler could possibly have built a genuine perpetual motion machine. Personally I don't like to use the term 'perpetual motion' about a weight driven machine; it isn't perpetual motion so much as continuous motion, providing the force of gravity is present.  Continuous motion sounds more believable too, not that that is any kind of criterion to support such a contention.

The laws of physics must remain unaffected by this machine; there can be no conflict with them, in which case the theories I spoke of earlier will remain intact and supported by the evidence provided by Bessler's machine.  Only the predictions are wrong about such machines being impossible.  As I said above, the predictions are subject to re-evaluation and in this case they will be once the proof is self-evident, in the form of a working model.

JC

September UPDATE - at last!

I have been extremely busy for the last few weeks and I apologise for being absent from this blog.

My log cabin is finished and my workshop which was to be in it, has had to be moved to the garage, which is more suitable for drilling and sawing etc  The log cabin is now my writing and drawing place and will provide a good space to complete the numerous illustrations required for the book I am engaged in writing  I read somewhere that a surprisingly large proportion of authors prefer to work in a quiet bolt-hole out in the garden. Perhaps there they can let their creative juices flow away from the distractions they’d otherwise encounter in the main home or in a traditional office space. Not even a phone for many, and certainly no spouse, kids or visitors to disturb them. Perhaps this, together with the peace and tranquility which the garden lends, is the secret to their success …well you never know, it might work for me too!

I've had a number of emails and posts asking when I aim to be back so here is an update for now and normal service will return shortly

The code breaking has continued despite the hiatus caused by moving house and helping my family in several tasks, including building another log cabin, clearing and tidying another one's garden and of course my own self-imposed plans.

I read with fascination the many claims to know the secret to Bessler's wheel, and remember how many times I also made the same claim, only to discover that I was wrong.  I told myself back then, that I would not make the same mistake again...until I had found a work-around that would satisfy the demands of Bessler's wheel, without conflicting with the accepted laws of physics - well I have known of such a concept for several months but I was unable to figure out how to build it into a working wheel.  Now I have a complete design and it is all due to Bessler's clues and all I have to do is build it.

But I think that I have said too much already, I don't want to follow a certain person's lead on the BW forum, who has so far achieved about 90,000 views without actually saying anything!  So although I believe I have the secret I don't want anyone thinking I am making a claim to actually have it, I just think/hope I have...along with all the many others who also think they do.

The book so far contains over 30 illustrations, all of which will be refined before it becomes available as a download.  There are possibly going to be another 20!  If you think that is a lot, I have already combined some and eliminated others.  The reason for so many is that there are so many solid clues in Bessler's work that each step requires an explanation and an illustration of what it is and how it is used.  I'm confident that there will be little or no argument about my explanations, but I want to get it as precise and as good as I can get it, before I release it into the world outside!

So back to the log cabin - I must post a picture of it in my next post, it is thing of beauty and I am inordinately proud of it, considering I built the whole thing single handed.

Back soon, happy wheeling!

JC

The Legend of Bessler's Wheel and my latest Update

I'm putting the brief account of Johann Bessler's Wheel back up for a short time because I am concentrating on writing (rewriting!) an account of the codes I've deciphered and explaining just how they apply to Bessler's wheel.  I'm sure that I have finally got to the solution but my saying so doesn't make it so, and I have two options, one is to make the wheel according to my perceived design, courtesy of Bessler - and the other is describe everything in detail including all coded material, how the wheel worked and including photos of my own wheel, step by step. from start to finish. I'm taking both options.

I plan to make a video of the wheel and show how I obtained the solution but that may take a little longer and I have procrastinated for too long!  Time is slipping by and I must begin work in earnest on building the wheel itself, and write my account of it too, so the video will have to wait.  

So I shall close the comments feature after a few days and get to work on the wheel - at last!  I'll update things here as and when there is something to show.

THE LEGEND OF BESSLER'S WHEEL

The legend of Bessler’s Wheel began on 6th June 1712, when Johann Bessler announced that he had invented a perpetual motion machine and he would be exhibiting it in the town square in Gera, Germany, on that day.  Everyone was free to come and see the machine running.  It took the form of a wheel mounted between two pillars and ran continuously until it was stopped or its parts wore out. The machine attracted huge crowds.  Although they were allowed to examine its external appearance thoroughly, they could not view the interior, because the inventor wished to sell the secret of its construction for the sum of 10,000 pounds – a sum equal to several millions today.

News of the invention reached the ears of high ranking men, scientists, politicians and members of the aristocracy.  They came and examined the machine, subjected it to numerous tests and concluded that it was genuine. Only one other man, Karl, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, was allowed to view the interior and he testified that the machine was genuine. He is a man well-known in history as someone of the greatest integrity, and  the negotiations between Bessler and Karl took place against a background in which Karl acted as honest broker between the warring nations of Europe; a situation which required his absolute rectitude both in appearance and in action.

There were several attempts to buy the wheel, but negotiations always failed when they reached an impasse – the buyer wished to examine the interior before parting with the money, and the inventor fearing that once the secret was known the buyer would simply leave without paying and make his own perpetual motion machine, would not permit it.  Sadly, after some thirty years or more, the machine was lost to us when the inventor fell to his death during construction of another of his inventions, a vertical axle windmill.

However, the discovery of a series of encoded clues has led many to the opinion that the inventor left instructions for reconstructing his wheel, long after his death.  The clues were discovered during the process of investigating the official reports of the time which seemed to rule out any chance of fraud, hence the  interest in discovering the truth about the legend of Bessler’s wheel.

My own curiosity was sparked by the realisation that an earlier highly critical account by Bessler's maid-servant, which explained how the wheel was fraudulently driven, was so obviously flawed and a lie, that I was immediately attracted to do further research. In time I learned that there was no fraud involved, so the wheel was genuine and the claims of the inventor had to be taken seriously.

The tests which the wheel was subjected to involved lifting heavy weights from the castle yard to the roof, driving an Archimedes water pump and an endurance test lasting 56 days under lock and key and armed guard.  Bessler also organised demonstrations involving running the wheel on one set of bearings opened for inspection – and then transferring the device to a second set of open bearings, both sets having been examined to everyone’s satisfaction, both before, after and during the examination.

So the only problem is that modern science denies that Bessler's wheel was possible, but my own research has shown that this conclusion is wrong.  There is no need for a change in the laws of physics, as some  have suggested, we simply haven't covered every possible scenario in the evaluating the number of possible configurations.

I have produced copies of all Bessler's publications, with English translations.  They can be obtained by clicking on the appropriate links on the right.

JC

Why a Gravity-wheel is said to be impossible - but isn't!

The common explanation for the failure of a perpetual motion machine to run continuously, is often explained in a simple phrase - energy in, equals energy out.

As Dr. Donald E. Simanek, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, explains, https://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/museum/peopl/people.htm 
"all motions of the wheel and its parts are repeated exactly during each complete revolution. So if a weight moves to a larger radius once per cycle, it must also be pulled back to the original radius later during the cycle. The work done in changing the radius by a certain amount from large to small is equal and opposite to the work done in changing the radius by the same amount from small to large. We gain no net energy per cycle."  

This is true and demonstrates why all the 'experts' refuse to accept Bessler's claims to have designed and built a working perpetual motion machine.  But the description he gives above does not cover all possibilities.  I know of at least two alternative concepts that will avoid his conclusion.  In fairness to him I know he showed a number of historic designs which clearly did not work and perhaps he was only referring to them.  The designs all depend on the use of gravity as an enabling medium, as do mine and many others - notice I did not say energy source!

I know (and have known and believed for at least 40 years!) that gravity does not provide the energy for a theoretical gravity wheel, but the falling weights do.  It's a curious fact, this assertion that gravity is not an energy source, because we tap it every day in the form of falling weight clocks, falling water to generate electricity and possibly a hundred other ways we depend on upon its existence.

It isn't a source of energy, but if it isn't then what is it?.  If, as I and many other here believe, Bessler used the falling weights to drive his wheel, they provided the energy to make it rotate, but without the force of gravity to make the weights fall, then the wheel wouldn't turn.

Current energy sources include solar, wind, water, geothermal, nuclear energy and of course coal, oil and natural gas.  Some of these terms describe the source before conversion to usable energy.  Our potential use of falling weights also uses gravity energy before conversion.  Yet gravity is not a source of energy but the others listed above all are.

My personal opinion is that those who criticise the notion that the energy comes from gravity are being pedantic.  Even though I knew that gravity isn't an energy source way back in the 1970s I still believe that because it causes objects of mass to fall, that action can be turned to advantage.  It's like criticising the term 'petrol' or 'gas' or 'diesel' engine because it isn't the liquid fuel that supplies the energy, but rather the heat or explosive force that the fuel provides when it ignites.  The fuel, like gravity is an enabler.  One thing I'm sure of is that 'gravity wheel' or 'gravity engine' is how they will be referred to in the media, once they are verified as legitimate.

On the other hand we refer to water wheels, as driven by water and not as gravity-enabled.  But by implication we assume that the steam engine is driven by steam and not by water, we still have to heat the water to get the steam which expands to drive a piston.  We might call it an external combustion engine as opposed to the internal combustion engine referred to above.

We know what we mean by these energy terms so when I say the gravity wheel taps the energy of gravity you know what I mean.

Any way be assured that Mr Simanek is right as far as he goes but he has not considered any possible work-arounds, and they hold the key. I look forward to the day he discovers the true Bessler's perpetual motion machine

JC