Johann Bessler left an abundance of coded information and that is an indisputable fact, but for what purpose? Either the information revealed how his machine worked, or it explained how he cheated everyone! I and many others have dismissed the latter as it is obviously wrong for many reasons too long to go into here, but I do provide convincing evidence about this in my biography about Bessler, see my book, below. PMAAMS?
It has to be posthumous. He never wanted anyone to decipher the codes unless it happened after he had sold his perpetual motion machine, but perhaps he might have published a description of the codes later in life, for the education of his planned apprentices. But he also wrote that he would prefer to die than give away the secret of his machine. When he wrote that comment, he had already composed and embedded numerous examples of his codes in his published books! So I assume the posthumous decipherment would give him the acknowledgment he desired. I’ve worked on these codes for many years and I’m only now making headway; it seems to me that Bessler took a risk in publishing his information before he sold his wheel.
Anyway, how was he to bring our attention to the possibility that there could be coded information available to a determined researcher? The answer was ingenious. As soon as he began to exhibit his first perpetual motion machine (PM) in 1712 he adopted the pseudonym, Orffyreus. This simple piece of code would have been more readily deciphered in those days as it was a familiar letter substitution cipher used by the ancient Hebrews, Julius Caesar and Napoleon to mention but a few. In modern times it is referred to as RoT13, which simply means rotate a letter 13 places onwards, which was what one needed to do. In the illustration below note below the B for Bessler becomes O for Orffyreus, etc.
This is a well-known cipher and easy to solve.
There are a number of different ciphers, some I think Bessler had invented. In addition to the ROT13 as seen above, (alphabet he used Alphanumeric substitution, Chronograms, Cryptic clues, information concealed or embedded in Geometric puzzles, Biblical encoded puzzles, word play, riddles, ambiguous text, ….and actual textual clues.
It is necessary to note that the number five was concealed in various ways in his books. This numbers is beyond question of the utmost importance in Bessler’s mind and therefore should be in ours too if we are serious about deciphering his many clues, and ultimately reproduce Bessler’s amazing invention.
In his illustrations he sometimes labelled parts with numbers. These numbers always added up to a certain total. That total has to be divided by the number of numbers used! Also the range of numbers used was a clue, 1 to 24 in one figure. As if that wasn’t enough he embedded a concealed clock in the illustration.
To clarify, one illustration has numbers totalling 660, taking the clock as a clue, divide 660 by 12 hours of the clock, equals 55. 1 to 24 points to the hours in a day, another clue to the clock. The figure also contains a pentagram, another link to the number 5.
The angles of a pentagram are, 18, 36, 54,72, 90 and 108, and they feature prominently through out his illustrations, but in one case he uses letters instead of numbers. But when they are converted to numbers their totals are divisible by both the quantities of the numbers used and the range of numbers, to produce more pentagonal numbers. For instance, in one case, the numbers 1 to 10 is used and when added together totals 55. But when the numbers used are added up, they total 90, another pentagonal number, and indicates the presence of another pentagram.
Another interesting cipher which Bessler made his own also concerns his name. Not content with adopting the pseudonym Orffyreus, he also added two more forenames. He was born Elias Bessler but later added the names Johann Ernst to Elias Bessler. Using the same technique as he used to get the name Orffyreus, but only applying it to the first letter of his names, JEEB became WRRO. In this puzzle again using his favoured cipher alphanumeric, JEEB becomes 10, 5, 5, 2; and WRRO becomes 23, 18, 18, 15.. interestingly the two 5s seems to point to the geometric figure, and even more surprising 18 degrees is the basic number of every angle in the pentagram, all of the rest are multiples of 18.
How convenient and what an utterly amazing coincidence that E is the fifth letter of the alphabet and when twinned with its RoT13 cipher it becomes R, the 18th letter, and both numbers are undeniably an intrinsic part of the pentagram!
It has been suggested that this apparent obsession with the number 5 is indicative of an interest in mystery schools and the occult, but this could not be further from the truth. Bessler was extremely knowledgeable about such matter, but his determination to either sell his PM device or receive full acknowledgement as the original inventor over-ruled anything else.
The books you need to investigate Bessler codes are shown below. Clicking on the Buy Now link takes you to the order and payment page. There you can see the book and add it to the cart and then make a payment.
Perpetual Motion: An Ancient Mystery Solved?” PMAAMS?. View the synopsis for details of the book’s contents at my web site. http://www.free-energy.co.uk/html/synopsis.html. Briefly it is an account taken from of every document relating to Bessler that I could find from files held in museums around the world, researched and translated.
Gruendlicher Bericht” - GB this was Bessler’s first publication, ostensibly produced by a friend although I think one can detect Bessler’s handiwork in places. This copy is also in the original German and includes a full English translation at the rear. It also includes the very first drawing which Bessler published and this also contains clues to the way his machine worked.
Apologia Poetica, - AP. This was Bessler’s account of his life up until the time of Karl the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel’s patronage. The book contains the original German transcribed into a modern font and includes a full English translation at the rear. I would have preferred to include the original German font but it was in such poor condition that it would have been unreadable. This book contains some allusions to secret codes hidden within the book itself.
Das Triumphans Perpetuum Mobile “- DT. this was Bessler’s most professionally finished book. It was written in both German and Latin and this edition is a faithful reproduction of the actual pages of the original book. It also includes a full English translation at the rear. A number of drawings are included by the original author and these are said to contain a number of clues as to his machine’s workings.
Maschinen Tractate” - MT. this was found in the Bessler’s possessions after his death, in the form of a number of pages (141) and which contained a message on the front of the volume which stated that he had removed the drawings which depicted how his machine worked but that some one with a penetrating mind could by studying several drawings ultimately discover the secret of its construction. I have reproduced the drawings as they were found. I included his handwritten notes with the best translation I could obtain, since the writing is very hard to read.
JC
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