The True Story of Bessler’s Perpetual Motion Machine - Update

At the end of March we sold our house and moved in with my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter, expecting to be there for no more than two or three months. Yet here we are close to nine months later, finally hoping to move into our new house before Christmas, but maybe middle of January next year.

For the whole of that time I’ve been without a workshop and it has been soooooo frustrating! I can’t wait to move in, get my workshop up and running and produce a working model of Bessler’s wheel. I’ve had so much time to think and plan and I remain confident that success will come in 2022.

So in the mean time once more, here are the details about Johann Bessler aka Orffyreus and his amazing Perpetual Motion Machine. Plus details of how to order his biography and his books which each include English translations.

The Legend of Bessler's wheel.

On 6th June, 1712, in Germany, Johann Bessler (also known by his pseudonym, Orffyreus) announced that after many years of failure, he had succeeded in designing and building a perpetual motion machine. For more than fourteen years he exhibited his machine and allowed people to thoroughly examine it. Following advice from the famous scientist, Gottfried Leibniz, who was able to examine the device, he devised a number of demonstrations and tests designed to prove the validity of his machine without giving away the secret of its design.

Karl the Landgrave of Hesse permitted Bessler to live, work and exhibit his machine at the prince's castle of Weissenstein. Karl was a man of unimpeachable reputation and he insisted on being allowed to verify the inventor's claims before he allowed Bessler to take up residence. This the inventor reluctantly agreed to and once he had examined the machine to his own satisfaction Karl authorised the publication of his approval of the machine. For several years Bessler was visited by numerous people of varying status, scientists, ministers and royalty. Several official examinations were carried out and each time the examiners concluded that the inventor's claims were genuine.

Over several years Karl aged and it was decided that the inventor should leave the castle and he was granted accommodation in the nearby town of Karlshafen. Despite the strong circumstantial evidence that his machine was genuine, Bessler failed to secure a sale and after more than thirty years he died in poverty. His death came after he fell from a windmill he had been commissioned to build. The windmill was an interesting design using a vertical axle which allowed it to benefit from winds from any directions. 

He had asked for a huge sum of money for the secret of his perpetual motion machine, £20,000 which was an amount only affordable by kings and princes, and although many were interested, none were prepared to agree to the terms of the deal. Bessler required that he be given the money and the buyer take the machine without viewing the internal workings. Those who sought to purchase the wheel, for that was the form the machine took, insisted that they see the secret mechanism before they parted with the money. Bessler feared that once the design was known the buyers could simply walk away knowing how to build his machine and he would get nothing for his trouble.


I became curious about the legend of Bessler’s Wheel, while still in my teens, and have spent most of my life researching the life of Johann Bessler (I’m now 76). I obtained copies of all his books and had them translated into English and self-published them, in the hope that either myself or someone else might solve the secret and present it to the world in this time of pollution, global warming and increasingly limited energy resources.

Not long after I was able to read the English translations of his books, I became convinced that Bessler had embedded a number of clues in his books. These took the form of hints in the text, but also in a number of drawings he published. Subsequently I found suggestions by the author that studying his books would reveal more information about his wheel.


For some ideas about Bessler’s code why not visit my web sites at http://www.theorffyreuscode.com/see my work on his “Declaration of Faith” at http://www.orffyreus.net/

Also please view my video at https://youtu.be/5BWVKtpuzn0

It gives a brief account both the legend and some more detail about some of the codes.

The problem of obtaining a fair reward for all his hard work was anticipated by Bessler and he took extraordinary measures to ensure that his secret was safe, but he encoded all the information needed to reconstruct the machine in a small number of books that he published. He implied that he was prepared to die without selling the secret and that he believed that posthumous acknowledgement was preferable to being robbed of his secret while he yet lived.


It has recently become clear that Bessler had a huge knowledge of the history of codes and adopted several completely different ones to disguise information within his publications. I have made considerable advances in deciphering his codes and I am confident that I have the complete design.


Johann Bessler published three books, and digital copies of these with English translations may be obtained from the links to the right of this blog. In addition there is a copy of his unpublished document containing some 141 drawings - and my own account of Bessler’s life is also available from the links. It is called "Perpetual Motion; An Ancient Mystery Solved?" 

Bessler's three published books are entitled "Grundlicher Bericht", "Apologia Poetica" and "Das Triumphirende...". I have called Bessler's collection of 141 drawings “Maschinen Tractate”, but it was originally found in the form of a number of loosely collected drawings of perpetual motion designs. Many of these have handwritten notes attached and I have published the best English translation of them that I was able to get. Bessler never published these drawings but clearly intended to use them in his planned school for apprentices.

You can order copies of the books from my website at www.free-energy.co.uk

Or from the top of the right side panel under the heading ‘Bessler’s Books’.

There are also links lower down on the right side panel.

As I often say, the solution to this device is needed now. Anything that might help cleanse the planet of pollution and help to reduce green house gas emissions, by providing a clean cheap alternative energy source should encouraged in its discovery and development to counter global warming.

JC

Johann Bessler’s Portrait Lies Behind A Geometer

I planned to share a lot of clues in this blog but time is short, so I’ll give you a hint at what I’m going to share in the next one. First of all I want to share some information about the portraits that Johann Bessler placed in one of his books.

The mystery which lies in front of the portrait of Johann Bessler in the front of his book, Das Triumpirende Perpetuum Mobile ORFFYREAN may be less mysterious than it appears to be..  

Bessler placed his own portrait behind another one of an older style which had a number of scientific instruments displayed. He seems to have taken some care to find a portrait which matched his own in size and position. He carefully cut out the face of the old style portrait and lined them up so precisely that his own face appeared to be looking through.

See his portraits below

Now you see him looking through the older portrait below. Note the instruments at the bottom of the portrait.

In this last one you can see how the portraits were arranged, the one with the hole in it folded over the Bessler portrait.

 

I believe that the figure in the older portrait with the hole in it is a Geometer or what is sometimes a called Geometrician.

According to various dictionaries a geometer/geometrician is a mathematician specializing in geometry. A list of famous Geometers includes, Archimedes, Pythagoras, Apollonius and of course, Euclid.  

Geometers are concerned with properties of space that are related with distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures.

In his Apologia Poetica Bessler tells us that, “I became an expert in astronomical matters and in the calculation of calendars. The surveying of woods, meadows and fields was another serious pursuit for me. I’m sure he was familiar with the instruments common to both Geometers and surveyors.

So I looked into the history of Geometric instruments and found several pictures and here are some I found which, as can be seen, are similar to the ones at the bottom of the Geometer portrait.

This picture just above came from “Giacomo & Domenico Lusverg, Box of mathematical instruments, 1688 - 1710. Rome, Italy. Brass, Copper, Glass, Steel. Medici collections. Museo Galileo”.

That he saw himself as a Geometer, makes the most sense in my opinion, but what is he telling us?  Bearing in mind that Euclid, for instance was included in the list of famous Geometers, as was Pythagoras, I’m not surprised that Bessler included himself in that illustrious list.  He did title himself, Doctor of Mathematics, Medicine and Perpetual Motion. So I think he regarded himself as a Geometer.  The older portrait included many of the instruments he would be familiar with.

The fact that he appears to be looking through the eyes of a Geometer, suggests he wanted us to see him as a geometer and that we should be looking for evidence of his geometrical figures in his own portrait and they are there. If you to go to my web site at http://www.theorffyreuscode.com/html/2nd_portrait.html for just a hint at what is there, I should warn you that the pentagram is wrong but the concept is right. I posted that web site ten years ago and much has changed since then.

Much greater detail to follow.

JC

The TOYS Page, 137, 141 and 47 and the Freemasons.

Many here will be aware that the ‘Toys’ page in Johann Bessler’s Maschinen Tractate was numbered MT 138,  139, 140 and 141.  I suggested that the drawings he destroyed or buried were replaced by this curious page of what appear to be toys, but perhaps there was another reason.

 The previous page was numbered MT137, which was the logical number for the preceding page.  As I pointed out previously MT137 contains the musical ‘circle of fifths’, plus if you use two radii to divide a circle according to the golden ratio it yields sectors of approximately 137° (1.618, the golden ratio) and 222°, hence the number 137. 

So 360/1.618 = 222.5 .  360-222.5=137.5 Curiously 1/137.5 = 00727272727 etc.  5x72=360.

The pentagram is of course constructed with numerous examples of the golden ratio.

I should add there is a huge amount of discussion in scientific circles about the mystery of the number 137. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/137_(number)

The final number on the Toys page is 141, is an interesting choice.  The number of Bible references in Bessler’s Declaration of Faith also number 141. Only 3 and 47 are divisors of  141. This brings to mind Euclid’s 47th problem. MT47 has a curious feature, the number 47 is repeated upside down within the drawing.

Bessler seems to be underlining the importance of the number 47. It could suggest the requirement for a 3:4:5 right angle in his wheel?

Other reasons occur to me which could explain Bessler’s inclusion of these numbers but it would be too much speculation at this point.

I’m aware of suggestions that Bessler was involved with FreeMasonry and so I offer the following information gleaned from 

https://bricksmasons.com/blogs/masonic-education/the-47th-problem-of-euclid

“The 47th Problem of Euclid or 47th Proposition of Euclid is also known as the Pythagorean Theorem. It is represented by three squares.

The symbol of the 47th problem of Euclid looks mysterious to the uninitiated, and a lot of them often ponder on what this Masonic symbol means.

Some Masonic historians describe the 47th Problem of Euclid as something that connotes a love of the sciences and the arts. But that definition leaves a lot unsaid. In this article, we’ll shed more light on the 47th Problem of Euclid. Our explanation will include the Masonic Square along with Pythagoras’s Theory.

Euclid 

Euclid is known as the Father of Geometry. He lived several years after Pythagoras, and he continued the work of Pythagoras. Euclid focused mainly on the 3:4:5 ratio puzzle. Some sources have it that he had to make a sacrifice of 100 cattle or oxen before he could solve the puzzle. Some other sources have it that the Egyptians had long solved the puzzle before he did.

The Pythagoras Theorem 

The Pythagoras theorem states that in a right-angled triangle, the sum of the squares on the two sides is equal to the square of the hypotenuse. So, for a right-angled triangle with lengths of sides in the ratio 3:4:5, ‘5’ represents the hypotenuse or the longest side.

3: 4: 5

32: 42: 52

9: 16: 25

9 + 16 = 25

The first four numbers are 1, 2, 3 and 4. Let us write down the squares of these numbers.

      12:22:32:42   

      1: 4: 9: 16  

When you subtract each square from the next one, you get 3, 5, 7.

4-1 = 3            

9-4 = 5 

16-9 = 7

The ratio 3: 5: 7 is very important. The ratio represents the steps in Freemasonry. They are the steps are the exact number of brothers that form the number of Master Masons needed to open a lodge.

3 Master Mason

5 Fellow Craft

7 Entered Apprentice

3: 5: 7 represents the steps in the Winding Stair that leads to the Middle Chamber.

The 47th Problem of Euclid is necessary for constructing a foundation that is architecturally correct as established by the use of the square. This is important to Operative Masons as well as Speculative Masons.

The 47th Problem of Euclid is a mathematical ratio that allows a Master Mason to square his square when it is out of square.  

In the old days, old wooden carpenter squares had one longer leg because they were created using the 3: 4: 5 ratio from the 47th problem of Euclid. But carpenters of today use squares that have equal legs.

If you have four sticks and a piece of string, you can work out the 47th Problem of Euclid on your own. You will be able to create a perfect square with these. The string should be about 40 inches in length, and the four sticks must be strong enough to stick into soft soil. You will also need a black marker to mark the rope.”

I remain unconvinced of Bessler’s membership of the Masons, but he seems to have had some knowledge or interest in them.

JC

Stating the Obvious About Johann Bessler’s Wheel.

I usually prefer to ignore the discussion about the term ‘perpetual motion’, because it has become confusing and the definition has altered between Bessler’s time and today.  I think we all know what we mean by the term, the wheel that speeds up to a certain speed and maintains it indefinitely. Even Bessler questioned the use of the phrase, he said it could not literally be perpetual, because the materials of which it was made could not last, and there would be wear and tear etc.  He called it ‘Perpetual Motion, as they say’ or ‘as it were’, implying that it was called that by habit but was not correct.  His exact wording in AP, ‘Perpetuum mobile per se’, which translated is, ‘by or in itself or themselves; intrinsically.’  In reality I prefer terms such as , ‘continuous or sustained or constant motion’, which doesn’t imply that it’s perpetual, but is non-stop or continuous at a particular moment. 

I think that we have to stop looking for any other source of energy, it’s clear to me that however you look at it, gravity lies at the heart of Bessler’s wheel.  We have endlessly argued that gravity cannot be the source of energy for the device, but there isn’t anything else.  I myself and others have researched, studied, experimented, built models, right from the start, myself for over 50 years, but there is nothing that fits in with what we know of Bessler’s wheel, as he described it except using the force of gravity.

We know gravity is a force, an attraction between objects of mass, for instance, and it gives weights their……weight.  When motionless they retain their gravitational input as potential energy, when dropping they are expending that same energy as kinetic energy.  We also know it isn’t a source of energy, at least not in the literal sense.  But it does supply a continuous force which we routinely use, via streams of water for instance. Water is the connecting medium between gravity and say a water mill and the weights are the connecting medium between gravity and the mechanisms in Bessler’s wheel. 

We work with formulae that can predict the work done by gravity and it sometimes seems as though the weight is inherent within the mass, but it’s not, it’s the force of gravity giving it that weight.  In gravity-less conditions the weights become weightless.  In space it is the attributes of mass which provide it’s amount of inertia or resistance to being moved or being stopped moving. That inertia is acted on by gravity, and the greater the mass the greater the affect of gravity.

In the end Bessler’s wheel used weights to make it turn continuously, gravity caused the weights to fall, the right configuration of the weights allowed the fallen weights to rise to their pre-fall position. It’s perfectly possible and it cannot act contrary to the established laws of physics no matter how much we are told it must.  

One more thing; the wheel was able to do work as well as simply turn.  A distinct gap between the energy generated by the falling weights and that expended in returning each one to its pre-fall position must have been present, sufficient to provide a mechanical advantage .  This extra energy was enough to not only drive the wheel round but also continue to do extra work, i.e. lift heavy weights, drive an Archimedes water pump etc. This is a logical outcome of the inclusion of weights reacting to the force of gravity.  Within the gap the heavier the weights used, the more powerful the wheel; either lifting heavier loads or turning faster. This additional work could be modified by alterations to the internal configuration, while retaining the continuous rotational ability.

So the energy Bessler’s wheel used to make it turn continuously was derived from the falling of the weights, and their subsequent placement prior to their return to their pre-fall position.

The energy was generated by each falling weight, but the particular configuration in Bessler’s wheel, allowed it to raise the weights at less cost in energy than that generated in their fall, hence the supplementary energy available for turning the wheel and doing work.

JC

 

I’ve Decided to Resurrect some Earlier Blogs which I Think/Hope might be of more Interest than when they were First Posted

This blog was originally posted in October 2014.  

This Circular Argument has run for 174 years; Is It Perpetual Motion?

I wrote a poem out of frustration that such an idiotic argument could ever have been taken seriously, don’t worry, I won’t reproduce it here!  Hermann von Helmholtz (August 31, 1821 – September 8, 1894) was a brilliant German physician and physicist but as so often happens, he was credited with discoveries outside of his area of expertise, hence the acceptance of a conjecture so easily disposed of, that the mere fact that it is relied upon to dismiss such theories as I have researched over many years, defies logic.

With acknowledgement and grateful thanks to Scott Ellis of Besslerwheel forum:-

"In 1847, a 26-year-old German medical doctor, Hermann Helmholtz, gave a presentation to the Physical Society of Berlin that would change the course of history. He presented the original formulation of what is now known as the First Law of Thermodynamics, beginning with the axiomatic statement that a Perpetual Motion Machine is impossible.

Axiom - A statement or proposition that is accepted as true without proof.

No one had ever succeeded, he wrote, in building a Perpetual Motion Machine that worked. Therefore, such machines must be impossible. If they are impossible it must be because of some natural law preventing their construction. This law, he said, could only be the Conservation of Energy.

But a profound reversal of reasoning has occurred in the last century. Helmholtz originally said "Because a Perpetual Motion Machine is impossible, therefore the First Law of Thermodynamics must apply;" while in any physics text book today one will find the statement that "Because of the First Law of Thermodynamics, a Perpetual Motion Machine is impossible."

Skeptics are quick to cite the Laws of Thermodynamics to disprove Bessler's claims. In fact, the argument is circular. 

The Laws of Thermodynamics do not prove that Bessler's machine is impossible. On the contrary, they are deduced from the "leap of faith" of first presuming it is impossible." 

It is often found that people who are recognised for their expertise in one field often comment on areas outside their experience and because of their celebrity their ideas are accepted.

Of course in this case the expert was a 26 year old medical student. Others such as Lord Kelvin in 1895 stated that “heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible” .

Lord Kelvin could not know what would happen in the future, and apparently, Hermann von Helmholtz didn’t even know what had happened in the past, over one hundred years before.

JC

Several glitches in my very old www.free-energy.co.uk web site

It seems that my web site at www.free-energy.co.uk which was my original site proclaiming the legend of Bessler’s wheel, has suffered some glitches over the last few years and I wasn’t aware that the PayPal buttons had been superseded by new ones!  That’s another “oops” from me and I apologise for not noticing sooner.  

It is very old having been born in January 1998 and I just visited the “wayback machine” https://web.archive.org/web/*/Www.free-energy.co.uk to check when I started this online journey - 23 years ago! 

You can obtain digital copies of all five of my books from this blog via the side panel, near the bottom, but I’m going to try to fix the buttons on the free-energy site as soon as I can.  

Printed books are available from my “print-on-demand” service at https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/johncollins

In the mean time I will relocate the links to the books lower down on this page. You can also access the books and the legend through the books page right at the top of the right hand panel here.

Perpetual Motion: An Ancient Mystery Solved?"

 DIGITAL. (2.83MB) £5 to download – click on the adjacent link. 

http://payhip.com/b/7Yvl

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“Maschinen Tractate”
 DIGITAL (53.27MB) £5 to download – click on the adjacent link

http://payhip.com/b/F8ZS

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“Apologia Poetica”

 DIGITAL ( 3.85MB)-£5 to download – click on the adjacent link.

http://payhip.com/b/oz54

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“Das Triumphirende”

 DIGITAL (32.49MB) - £5 to download – click on the adjacent link

http://payhip.com/b/DNUe

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“Grundlicher Bericht”

 DIGITAL (6.74MB)- £5 to download – click on the adjacent link

http://payhip.com/b/dahj__________________________________________

I have withdrawn all the printed copies. But the digital copy is available.

Sorry for this hiccup, but hopefully everything will be put right ……eventually.

JC

Conspiracies, Misinformation, Legal Quagmires? Give It Away!

It’s difficult to think of something to write about every week, except when I explain how Bessler’s wheel worked….and that may be a while yet!  But it’s also difficult to restrain ones self from revealing new ideas and pieces of deciphered code which are so much more meaningful and revealing.  Not that I’m revealing anything I think I know until I’ve built something that actually works.  I’ve been there, done that and proved nothing.  It simply has to work and demonstrably so.

There has been discussion about how to obtain financial reward, without losing control of the secret.  There has even been the suggestion that patenting it might be open to theft, either by a trusted patent lawyer, or he or she sharing the information, or selling it, or the government, under the guise of protecting national security, burying it.  If any of those possibilities, however remote, concerns you, there is only one option. As someone said here recently, spread the design world wide, freely and without restrictions, so that anyone and everyone can make it, sell it, share it or even go into manufacturing it. It would be better to be acknowledged as the one who succeeded after Bessler and earn nothing rather than not be acknowledged because some else stole it and you still earned nothing.

However, you can either ignore the above paragraph and get a patent or, if it worries you, you can ignore it because you believe, as I do, it’s just a load of conspiracy theories without foundation.  Actually the easy way through all the hassle, worry, costs, time-wasting, legal jungle, …give it away freely, as I would.

JC

The Strange Attraction of the Perpetual Motion Machine

At first sight it seems remarkable that Bessler  became so committed to searching for the answer to a perpetual motion machine (PM) that he spent ten years or more trying.  This despite the established opinion, even back then, that such devices went against the laws of physics.  But actually he was not alone in this endeavour, as proven by the work of Henry Dircks who described the history of the search in his huge two volume masterpiece. He listed literally hundreds of attempts and failures both honest and not so honest, going back into the dim and distant past. Henry Dircks, Perpetuum Mobile: Or A History Of The Search For Self-Motive Power From The 13th To The 19th Century

Nothing has changed today, we still search for the magic arrangement, despite the weighty opinion against us.  Why do we continue?  Well, two reasons, firstly we and all of our predecessors know that a PM machine is possible, as long as we accept that it is gravity enabled.  How can we know without any evidence?  I can’t explain it, but it is an intuitive and instinctive piece of knowledge, something which formed an intrinsic, perhaps primitive response to a problem who’s solution appeared simple.

The second reason is founded on slightly firmer ground; we have the evidence of Bessler’s wheel, circumstantial it’s true, but it’s very strong, and the only counter argument is the traditional one which claims that it’s impossible.

Over many years I have discovered and discarded numerous ideas, designs and configurations, none worked, but lately I have come to understand just how clever Bessler was, and how ingenious his clues are despite the sheer simplicity of his concept.  He explained exactly how his machine worked and we failed to grasp the true meaning of his words. Everything he wrote had more than one meaning and was so ambiguously phrased that we are confused as to exactly what he meant. I believe I have made the intuitive leap that he made more than 300 years ago, this came about while I was going through his textual clues for the umpteenth time - and I got it….finally!

When I complete our house move I shall test my idea and see if, this time, I got it right. Of course, as I always say, I’ve been here before, many times, but this time I’ve arrived by a different route. I was going through the same old clues and hints trying to read each one in alternative way, trying different words to convey the same information.  He did after all write in a different language to English and in a time 300 years in the past, so sometimes the meanings of words can alter subtly. I don’t mean that our understanding of the words he used is wrong, but the exercise promotes a subconscious re-evaluation of the meaning - I guess! 

JC

Bessler’s Wheel in the Future.

When someone finds the solution to Bessler’s wheel I don’t know how, or even if, it will affect the world we live in, but I do know that concerns regarding the changing climate could introduce a whole new raft of requirements which our existing technologies will struggle to deal with.

We are constantly being urged to reduce consumption of fuel, of all kinds.  This, it is suggested, will help diminish the amount of greenhouse gas currently being produced and consequently warming the planet. This potentially leaves a huge gap in the right kind of energy being generated. We know it’s got to be clean and cheap and at some point I think Bessler’s wheel will be considered as an option, but not until it’s proved viable.

Most of us believe in Bessler’s claims and if a working model is produced, it may cause some indigestion initially among the scientific community, but once they’ve swallowed their antacids they will pounce delightedly on the new (old) technology and take it to heights undreamed of by our mechanical selves.  

By that I mean that the mechanical answer to Bessler’s wheel might be translatable to other systems unallied to gravity.   Don’t ask me to be more specific, I don’t know exactly, although I have some ideas, but I know that a simple mechanical design which converts linear motion into circular motion has the potential to be included in other systems and I look forward to seeing if I’m right and what they might be.

JC