You Can't Ignore the Laws of Physics!

Let's face it, you can't avoid, nor can you ignore, the laws of physics.The chief problem we face in making claims that we have discovered how Johann Bessler designed and built his perpetual motion machine are inevitably, the fact that such machines are believed to be impossible, they conflict with the laws of physics and they go against everything we have been taught about such devices.

When you or I succeed in reconstructing his machine, it should have become obvious to us how and why it works, before we begin the build.  Even then just showing the finished working prototype may not be sufficient to convince the diehard  traditionalists.  We have to explain the reason it works.  So getting to that point should not be delayed until after we've built it - in fact it's a vital ingredient of potential success that we fully understand the how and the why before even designing it.  And yet I get the impression that probably more than 90 per cent of perpetual motionists are still seeking the solution without working out a concept which avoids conflict - and that will lead to success.  In other words they haven't formed a convincing argument that will answer the questions raised by the establishment that such machines violate the laws of physics. This answer should be part of the design process otherwise it can only lead to continued failure.

I think I know how to design a work-around that will circumvent those obdurate laws of physics and that is what each of us needs to attain - a believable concept which avoids the usual consequences of the actions and reactions of gravity and mass in a perpetual motion machine, according to the accepted laws of physics.

Bessler warned that when we design a wheel whose weights moved a little further from the centre on the downward side of the wheel, than those on the rising side, it is doomed to remain stationary.  This looks like good advice.

I assume that those who read this are already convinced that Johann Bessler succeeded  in building his gravity-enabled wheel and that he did not lie.

I think Bessler had little knowledge of why his unsuccessful wheels didn't work, but he did not know that what he was trying was impossible, so he kept going.  At some point the solution or at last a way forward must have occured to him - remember the dream.  Once he had the workable concept it was just a matter of time before he was successful.

JC

Some Johann Bessler Information Sources

Here, and on my web sites, I  have always provided links to web sites which in my opinion contain useful information about Johann Bessler and his Perpetual Motion machines.  But from my own experience (and inclinations!) most people ignore the links either because they can't be bothered to look or decide to go there next time - and familiarity with the links tends to lead to their increasing invisibility!

So here is a brief run down on what is on my websites, plus a couple of others containing excellent information and some official sources.

www.free-energy.co.uk  I had a choice back in 1996 of having .com or .co.uk and I chose wrong! This was my first web site.  It contains a brief account of the legend of Johann Bessler plus links to purchase either printed or digital copies of my book plus the four books by Bessler including English translations.  Short descriptions of each book are also provided.

There are also links to Christian Wagner's extremely critical reviews of Bessler's wheel, but it makes interesting reading- especially as it was written by one of Bessler's hated 'enemies'.

http://www.theorffyreuscode.com./. This one contains numerous examples of Bessler's codes and their meaning.  I have tried to be objective but where I think my interpretation is more speculative I have said so.  The one thing you can take from this web site is that Bessler definitely used codes and pointed them out, all we have to do is decide whether the other undeciphered codes contain real information which would help us reconstruct his wheel.  From personal experience I can state with complete conviction, yes, there is good information available for those who have the endurance and determination to find it.

http://www.gravitymill.com/. This site is more general and repeats information about the books.  I have included a brief account of my intentions in having the books and web sites which I hope you will read.

http://www.orffyreus.net/  I found so much coded information in Chapter 55 of Apologia Poetica that I had to devote a whole web site to describe my findings.  I know there are people around the world who use this information as a starting point in attempting to decipher the text.

http://www.orffyreus.org/  A few years ago I visited Kassel, Fuerstenberg and Karlshafen and took time to see the windmill which Bessler was building when he fell to his death.  This website contains some of my pictures and some interior ones from an estate agency who offered the original building for sale.

http://www.besslerswheel.com/  I tried to explain as much as I could about my current thinking at the time, about the principles behind Bessler's wheel. I discovered the little known sport of 'kiiking' native to Estonia, which involves swinging on a special device in which a swing is suspended from metal rods, so they are rigid and the rider can swing right over the top of the swing, provided his feet are securely fixed to the seat!  An examination of the rider technique supplies good information which can be used in designing Bessler's wheel.

http://www.gravitywheel.com/    This just a place where I intend to publish my reconstruction of Bessler's wheel - physical or virtual.  In other words if I succeed it will all be here wih video, pictures and explanations, and if I don't then I'll share everything I've discovered that I haven't published - and believe me it's a lot!

http://www.besslerwheel.com/  This is the place to go to discuss all thing Bessler.  It has loads of information as well and numerous links to original sources.

http://www.orffyre.com./  This is the best source for accurate information about the dimensions of each of Bessler's wheels, plus you get access to the reworked and updated digital drawings by Bessler which compose his Maschinen Tractate .

http://www.besslerrad.de/    This the best German language site and is full of information about the people and the times Bessler lived through.  It has pictures of everyone who became involved in the Bessler legend and also includes photos of the various places he visited.

It must be obvious that from the beginning I gathered a few web sites with meaningful names, but it's an expensive game and I have let several go. What's the point of owning numerous domain names, I have more than enough still? 

JC

Gravity, Wind and Water - Conservative or Continuous forces

This subject crops up from time to time.  A regular poster on besslerwheel forum has long maintained that gravity is like the wind and this is an analogy I too have suggested on many of my websites for several years.  But people simply don't get it.

They argue that gravity is nothing like wind and just because wind drives windmills the same cannot be said of gravity.  It is common knowedge that the heat from the sun creates varying air pressures, causing high pressure areas to rush to fill in lower pressure ones, hence the wind.  But how each force originates is not part of the argument. Yes, they are different physical forces, and indeed wind applies force to the external surface of an object whereas gravity applies its force to the atoms which make up the material of the object.

But the important thing to note is the resulting effect is just the same.  If we picture wind as a stream of air moving across the earth's surface, a balloon floating in the air is driven along with the wind.  If you tied the balloon to a piece of string and attached the other end to an immovable object it would remain stationary relative to the wind until it was released when it would again travel with the wind.  You could take the balloon back upwind again, and repeat the same action.

The same thing works with gravity and a ball. The ball falls downwards under the force of gravity.  It can be picked up and put higher up so it can fall again. Gravity is a continuous force and so is the wind at the point at which it interacts with the balloon.

The same applies to a stream of water with a boat in it.  Each force can be shown to exhibit potential energy and kinetic energy. Forget where the water came from or how it and the wind originated, all that matters is what happens at the point of interaction with the object in question. No one knows how gravity happens although there are plenty of theories, but what we do know is gravity causes things to fall unless they are fixed in some way, on a shelf, hanging from a wire or held in your hand.  Streams of wind and water also cause things to move, and also have potential energy because they are continuous forces, and they can also convert potential energy to kinetic energy.

The term 'conservative force' is vague and conveys a slightly misleading impression.  'Conserve' originally meant 'preserve', so a 'conservative force' preserved its force and power, in other words it was and is a 'continuous force'.  So-called non-conservative forces are brief, explosive forces which cease once they have moved an object.  If I hit a ball with a tennis racquet that sends the ball through the air, it travels onward due to the impetus I gave it but it ceases to move once the energy given to it has been expended.  The same applies to billiards, pool and snooker balls, these are not conservative forces because their force is not conserved.

When I say that a conservative force is a 'continuous force', I mean that it is not a one-off explosive force but rather a lengthy, continuous force and although the length might be very short, it is still not the explosive force of a hit,  but rather an extended push.

So those who claim that gravity is a conservative force and therefore cannot be used in Bessler's wheel are utterly wrong; it has to be a conservative or continuous force otherwise it wouldn't work.

A windmill goes round because the wind applies force to the sails; a water turbine rotates because water pressure is applies to the turbine blades,  gravity wheel rotates because gravity applies force to the weights.  We don't call a windmill a sail wheel, and we don't call a gravity wheel a weight wheel, We refer to diesel, petrol of gas engines because they run on those fuels, but actually it's not the fuel but the internal combustion of that fuel which drives the pistons and hence the crankshaft.  It's not gravity that drives a gravity wheel but the weights which fall under the influence of gravity.

JC

Bessler's Evidence and his Critics.

There are three areas or shades of scepticism about Johannn Bessler's claims; there are those who follow the establishment line, that the scientific laws codified through more than 300 years, prove that such devices are impossible; then there are those who are willing to consider that Bessler's claims, based on the persuasive historical evidence, might be true and that perhaps there is a loop-hole in the physical laws which might permit a gravity-enabled wheel to spin continuously. Lastly there are those who were convinced either immediately or over a short period of time that Bessler's wheel was indeed possible, but who, after countless experimental designs have failed, have finally conceded that the establishment view is correct and they have given up on the project.

There is a small hard core of people who remain convinced that Bessler's wheel was genuine and that if they or someone can succeed in replicating it, it could provide a welcome addition to the sources of energy required today and in the future.  Failure after failure does not dim our optimism and despite numerous setbacks we continue to design, experiment and consider, ruminate and conjecture on numberless hypothetical mechanical arrangements, perpetually seeking that speculative loop-hole in the man-made laws of physics.

The evidence in support of Bessler can be categorised in three ways too.  Firstly the witness reports describing the tests that each wheel underwent.  Each demonstration required a tougher test for each subsequent wheel, and they in turn emerged in a more convincing format, larger dimensions and capable of lifting heavier objects. All of these tests were suggested and designed by Gottfried Leibniz, to convince the sceptics that Bessler's wheel had a genuine potential even if it wasn't technically a perpetual motion machine.  This caveat at the end of the previous senece, lends weight to his personal belief that what ever lay behind its motion, Johann Bessler was absolutely honest about his wheel.

The second category consists of Karl the Landgrave of Hesse Kassel, his personal opinion that the machine was genuine, based on his actual observation of the inner workings of the wheel - a condition of his patronage.  There is no doubt about Karl's integrity and thus no chance of collusion in a fraud, between the two men.  It must also be remembered that Karl was a knowledgeable amateur scientist himself.  He financially supported a number of ongoing experiments including a Denis Papin's steam engine, and the establishment of an observatory and also sent his court engineer to England to obtain information on the Newcomen engine.

The last category is often ignored but for me it is at least equally persuasive of Bessler's sincerity. I refer to his autobiographical account of his search for the solution to perpetual motion and the public reaction to his declaration of success in such a controversial field.  In 1715 he wrote a booklet called Apologia Poetica in which described in somewhat harrowing terms his upbringing, education and his ten year search for the secret of a gravity-enabled wheel.  He then describes the moment when he gained success; followed by marriage to a former girlfriend.  Up to that moment he was triumphant and full of optimism, but that mood didn't last.  The men he continually referred to as his enemies, had hassled him publically from the start of his first announcement that he had built a perpetual motion machine.  They published slanderous tracts claiming to know how the scam, as they saw it, was carried out.  These offensive comments were easily dismissed by examining the demonstrations, but mud sticks and it wasn't until Karl the Landgrave granted Bessler his protection that the public accusations stopped.

It is absolutely clear from Bessler's writing in Apologia Poetica, that Bessler was desperate to prove these enemie's accusations were lies.  His life was full of stress and he must have been in a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from these adverse and demanding circumstances.To us reading the words of all parties involved it is clear that Bessler felt humiliated, offended and desperate to clear his name, a requirement which should not have been necessary given Karl's verification and the demonstrations suggested by Leibniz. Nevertheless, although their criticism was muted while under Karl's protection, as soon as Bessler left Kassel to live in Karlshafen, they re-emerged with the same public complaints, this time trying to get Bessler arrested on a trumped up charge of fraud.  This was dismissed immediately by Karl who knew the truth.

So is it any wonder that his language in Apologia Poetica was from time to time full of bitterness and bile, hatred for his enemies and frequent appeals to God to witness his appalling mistreatment?

JC

Update

I'll be away in Spain for a few days but will still be able to comment etc.

I've built this new log cabin in which I originally intended to have as my new work shop but my wife thinks it's too good for sawing wood and drilling and cutting metal so I shall be using it to do the wheel design and write blogs etc, but the actual work will be carried out in the garage, now somewhat truncated as a part of the building alterations we have undergone in the last six months.

Here are some picturs of my log cabin under way so-to-speak .

There's nothing much in it yet, other than an old PC which has a lot of drawings on it.  But it will do for writing scripts.  The log cabin will be the place to make the video and I have begun to write the script.  The need to include plenty of images means I can use some for the paper I'm writing.  I call it a paper but really I just intend to publish it maybe as just a digital download or possible in hard copy, so it could be a book, and/or a website.

I've been drawing the wheel design onto a three foot MDF disc so I can drill the holes in the right places and attach the various levers and weights.  Although the garage is shorter than it was, I'm creating an additional storage area at the side of the house where I can put all the stuff which is taking up too much room in the garage at present.  It's not ideal, being long and narrow but it'll do and I'm putting a translucentt roof on, so I can see what's in there in a few months time when I've forgotten what I originally stored there!  It seems as though more work produces more work before I can begin the real wheel work!  

Even at this late stage in my Bessler research I had one of those blindingly obvious revelations which cleared up a question I had which had been bothering me for a long time and which now seems so simple I cannot understand why, after so many years of study I didn't see the reason for its presence.

These breakthroughs both small and miniscule add up to a significant amount of information which, if I had published back in 2008, without the new stuff, would have missd the mark by a mile and probably have been of little help to anyone.  Hopefully the new stuff will galvanise everyone into action!

I'll be back soon.

JC

Visitors to this blog, and a personally shocking discovery.

I was looking back at some early blogs I posted and noticed with something of a shock that eight years ago on February 27th 2009, I wrote, "I am completing the video about Bessler and I'm completing the paper which contains everything relevant to building Bessler's wheel, which I have discovered over a number of years".  OMG - how time passes and nothing gets finished!  I am a serial procrastinator! The video and the paper is going to have to be redone.

Since those days in 2009, I have made a number of discoveries about Bessler's codes and I believe I've made a lot of progress towards the solution, but of course back in 2009 I also thought the same.  I even placed a coded message at the bottom of the blog page which contained, or so I thought, the secret to Bessler's wheel.  How we delude ourselves!

I cannot afford to wait any longer, I'm 72 years of age and so I'm going to speed up the building of this wheel and then get straight on with finishing the paper and the video and publishing them.  Not that I fear anything terminal happening, just being careful!

On a different subject, I was looking at the stats page for this blog and I thought I'd include a few pieces of data while I compose my next blog,  I hope it makes for a brief but interesting read, for instance:-

Page views by country for March 2017.

United Kingdom  1335

France                  1057

United States        713

Belgium                340

Ireland                   94

India                      87

Turkey                   60

Germany                59

Australia                39

Indonesia               38

Canada                   36

I'm pleased that the UK is number one, and I'm surprised that France ranks as number two, I thought the USA would be there.  But it changes every week and other countries sometimes appear briefly, such as China and Japan among others.

The most commonly used browsers use inluded:-

Chrome used by  48%

Firefox                27%

Safari                  12%

Internet Explorer 7%

I'm also surprised that Internet Explorer has fallen so far in popularity, although I use Firefox in preference to Chrome anyway. There were several others, some of which I had never heard of but all of low percentage

Operating systems : -

				Windows    3210 (54%)  Macintosh  1360 (23%) Linux      578 (9%) iPhone     235 (3%) Unix       227 (3%) iPad       140 (2%) plus assorted mobile systems. Windows are still in there, but Apple is getting a good chunk of the rest.  I have one imac and two windows and for me the Apple involves a fairly steep leaning curve and I wonder if that is why it hasn't taken more of the windows market. Google have provided almost all of the referring URLs, and almost as many referring sites apart from my own web sites. Commonly used search keywords:- Bessler, Orffyreus, perpetual motion, secret drawings, free energy, continuous motion, circular motion, Maschinen Tractate, Bessler's code, Apologia Poetica, Das Triumphans, Collins, gravitywheels..................... I don't know how old these are but I assume they were references recently. Page views all time history  912,547. Disppointing really given how many years and how many blogs I've written but then this is a niche subject and I struggle to put up new blogs without giving away the work I've done so far.  Still the total breaks down to over 300 daily, so perhaps I should be satisfied. JC

After the Construction of Bessler's Wheel?

When Bessler's wheel finally materialises and the accompanying furore has died down, the world will be looking for ways to use it.  We have discussed many times the potential for energy generation and there are as many doubters as proponents of the potential for useful electricity generation.  For me it's simply a matter of scale; if you can produde a tiny amount of electricty from a small machine then a bigger one will produce more.  How much bigger the wheel would have to be remains to be seen, but as I have often said, several wheels on one axle obviously has a much larger capacity to produce multiple amounts of power than a single wheel could.

I'm interested in other possibilities for its use.  In third world dry climates there is the potential to pump water from wells, irrigation of crops, greening of deserts, air-conditioning and refrigeration units.  In cold climates I suspect a way may be found to produce low level warmth into suitably insulated buildings. But what of the actual mechanical design, might it be adaptable for other mechanisms?

I mentioned many years ago that as a device for changing linear motion into rotary motion there could be potential for using the Bessler mechanism in a similar but alternative way.  I'm thinking of an inertial thruster but not a reactionless drive.  It has to be open, not a closed system. So the mechanism is driven in reverse by, say, a small electric motor which rotates it, creating a linear force on one side of the rotating mechanism.  Such a device mounted on wheels should cause it to move in the direction of the force.  It might even offer a space drive. Who knows if it would work, but logically if Bessler's wheel worked then so should this.

Once the technique Bessler invented is known, better ways of achieving the same thing may well  be invented and his design relegated to the history books, but that is progress and highly desirable. I'm working on an idea I've had for some time which I believe could be the solution to Bessler's wheel; it's what somone called 'a workaround'.  It doesn't conflict with the usual well-known problems and if I'm right then there are probably other ways to achieve the same result.

Curiously just such a thought was posted on my previous blog, and such coincidences can make your hair stand on end (those of you who have hair!).  Is someone reading my mind? I hope not! I've wondered if there were alternative ways of making a gravity-enabled wheel for some time, because although I have tried to follow Bessler's clues in my design, fitting it in with my own thoughts, perhaps I've misunderstood the clues and I'm trying to achieve the same result as he did but in a different way, and not deciphering his clues correctly.  In the final analysis the path doesn't matter as long as the desired end is reached.

JC

Johann Bessler's Graphic Clues

Despite including several drawings illustrating his wheel (although external views only) in his publications, Grundlicher Berchicht, Apologia Poetica and Das Triuphirende, most people have seized upon his unpublished work which I have called his Maschinen Tractate (MT) (although there is no such title contained within its pages) to try to find answers to the Perpetual Motion (PM) machine. The MT contains 141 illustrations prepared for printing and some of the pages have handwritten comments attached to them.  But there is a note on the first page which warns the reader that he, Bessler, has destroyed or hidden any that show the workings of his wheel.  He does stress that careful study of the remaining drawings could lead someone with a perceptive intelligence to find the solution.

Many people have taken this to mean that a careful study of every page is necessary to find the answers, but in my opinion, Bessler would not have included serious information in all 141 drawings or even some of them, which were completed over a considerable length of time.  But also he would have had no idea that an arrest charge was imminent and therefore he would have had no time to add numerous drawings done painstakingly on wooden blocks for printing.  I'm sure his original intention was to conclude the MT with an explanation of how his wheel worked, but due to the possibility of imminent arrest he removed those particular pages and replaced them with an illustration on paper. The page which I called "the Toys" page is numbered 138, 139, 140 and 141.  This is the only page with more than one page number, therefore I think it is only necessary to study that single page.  The fact that it includes four page numbers suggests that it replaces those original four pages, the ones showing how his wheel worked.

It is true that there are hints at othe hidden information within the preceeding 137 pages and perhaps he did insert pointers to additonal information but it is my belief that these little clues pointed to the some small features within his concept, not intended to convey the complete picture.  If we assume that his MT was designed to be a tool for teaching his apprentices at his planned school then these small inclusions might have been there to raise points of discussion within his anticipated classroom.

So the 'Toys' page may well hold some important information that while not providing the full picture, might prompt us in the right direction.  One other picture, MT 137, appears to be prepared for printing might have been added as additional clue.  You can read my hypothesis about this page on my web site at www.theorffyreuscode.com :-
 http://www.theorffyreuscode.com./html/mt_137_a.html 
Check out pages '2' and '3' too for the full picture.

Note the drawings below include the original MT137 and below it,  how to construct MT 137 taken from the web site linked above, and if you have read the above link you will know that I have always worked on the assumption that there were five mechanisms.  There are several supporting clues which also point to the same number.

In the 'Toys' drawing below I have divided the drawing into five sections.  I used the figure marked 'A' to guide me and included one of five pairs of depictions; one straight vertical and one pair of verticals in each division.  In the 'Toys' drawing there are five letters, A, B, C, D  and E - note that, five letters.  An apparently hastily added sketch of  a spinning top is labelled '5', not 'F' to follow 'E'.  and he calls it '5', not '6'.  Weird?  Or is he trying to tell us something?

Splitting the drawings into five parts reveals some information.  In each division in 'A', you can see, drawn vertically, two uprights surmounted by a single one.. They bear a striking resemblance to the figures labelled 'C' and 'D', which are shown horizontally.  But why two 'C' and 'D's?  I think only one hammer is needed in 'C' plus the parallel rods.  The same in 'D' but the hammer used is rotated around the other way to point outwards or to the left.

The item marked 'E' is the storks-bill, lazy tongs, scissor jacks or whatever you prefer to call them.  Item '5' is a spinning top, just in case no one makes the connection that this is all about a rotating device.  I won't explain item 'B' as it would require too much extra explanation here, but obviously it has a connection with item 'A'. But I will show its meaning later this year, when I've checked a couple of things out first.

Lastly the text is hard to read at item '5' but has been variously translated :-

" 5. Children's game in which there is something extraordinary for anyone who knows how to apply them in a different way."

  Mike, my translator had several goes at it and came to the conclusion that his version was right, but who knows?

JC

My Favourite Bessler Clues

I often get asked which of the many clues that are associated with Bessler are the best in my opinion, and which do I think will lead us to success.

There are textual clues as well as graphic, but I tend to favour the graphic ones, although there are a couple of pieces of text which in my opinion offer the most useful information and could help in our search for success.  But a single clue taken in isolation is hard to fathom and in my opinion is best understood when considered in conjunction with others.  Bessler had no desire to lie, if only because it would reflect badly upon him at a later date, even if the wheel was sold and accepted as a success.  But he could and did write ambiguously.  Much of his text when referring to the wheels, appeared to be either contradictory or even nonsensensical, but a search for anything constructive while attempting to accept the apparent meaning in an experimental way has led me to some interesting understandings.  Here are some of my preferred clues, not in any particular order of merit for me.

For instance Bessler says, "...these weights are themselves the PM device, the 'essential constituent parts' which must of necessity continue to exercise their motive force so long as they keep away from the centre of gravity."  This tells me that whatever arrangement is responsible for continuous rotation, it has to be ultimately gravity which enables it.

-and, “Alternately gravitating to the centre and climbing back up again." this seems obvious but is ambiguous, look for an alternative meaning which fits the words.

Or these ones,  “'Lightly' cause a heavy weight to fly upwards!” 

“I don't want to go into the details here of how suddenly the ‘excess’ weight is caused to rise." 

  “The inward structure is so arranged that by disposed weights once in rotation they gain force from their own swinging."

“This pressure of two fingers was applied until the moment when a single one of the weights present inside the body of the device began to fall.”

.

The above four quotes give me a feel for the mechanical action, but no detail.  The next one does give a little detail: "So then, a work of this kind of craftsmanship has, as its basis of motion, many separate pieces of lead. These come in pairs, such that, as one of them takes upan outer position, the other takes up a position nearer the axle. Later, they swap places, and so they go on and on changingplaces all the time."  Very informative, and as before, don't take the words at face value, look for alternative ways to understand what he says.

This following text is the most sensible piece of advice given out by Bessler and I think it applies to almost all designs currently being worked on; "Many would-be Mobile-makers think that if they can arrange for some of the weights to be a little more distant from the center than the others, then the thing will surely revolve. I learned all about this the hard way. One has to learn through bitter experience.”  It seems as though the design features he is dismissing are an absolute necessity for a gravity-enabled wheel to revolve continuously, but as it stands, his advice appears to rule it out utterly.  Do not be fooled, he admits elsewhere that his design relies on weights being a little more distant from the center than the others,so how do we explain this?  It's another example of his textual sleight-of-hand; it comes down to working out how you get the weights to be a little more distant from the center than the others.

There are many other clues in the text but the following one is my absolute favourite and one which is a supreme example of Bessler's deviousness, containing ambiguity, apparent nonsense and absolute truth, if you can work it out.  "A great craftsman would be that man who can "lightly" cause a heavy weight to fly upwards! Who can make a pound-weight rise as 4 ounces fall, or 4 pounds rise as 16 ounces fall".  I understand it completely with the proviso that there are two possible outcomes either of which it can argued, he meant but which hands-on building will resolve.  There are other translations available but I like this one the best and they are each decipherable in the same way.

I'll discuss the graphic clues in my next blog, but I warn you I shan't be giving much away.

JC

Johann Bessler's three possible outcomes.

Johann Bessler spent an intense and lengthy period of time searching for the solution to a perpetual motion machine.  Having suceeded in his self-appointed task he then spent an equal amount of time trying to sell the secret for 100,000 thalers.  His options for obtaining such a large sum were extremely limited; only rulers or princes of kingdoms had the necessary finances.  

He describes early on how he was told that a perpetual motion device was worth its weight in gold, or words to that effect.  Clearly, despite his strong religious convictions he wanted fame and fortune and he went all out to get it, via his chosen route - a perpetual motion machine.

There were three possible outcomes to his search for the solution to perpetual motion.  The first outcome; his search ended in success and he sold the secret for 100,000 Thaler.  That didn't happen. Secondly, he succeeded in finding the secret but failed to sell it.  That is the outcome we all know, and which we hope to correct in order to achieve his desired ending, if post humously.  But the third outcome involves him spending his entire life searching for the elusive secret and never finding it.

What might his life have been like in those circumstances?  Actually he had several options open to him.  Herr Weise, his schoolmaster, had tried to educate many of his pupils for positions within the establishment, and we know that Bessler was a star pupil in which case perhaps his prospects were good for a position at court, or within the maintence of large organisations such as Kassel, as blacksmith, surveyor, armourer or instrument maker - he had the skills. Or he could have continued as an organ maker or a medical man, even if not entitled to call himself a Doctor, or even found work as a watchmaker. His options seem almost limitless compared to most who had his upbringing.  We know he had an entrepreneurial ability, so his chosen course seems almost suicidal given the reception his claims had.

But he never wavered from his determined course, despite numerous setbacks, he seems to have been obsessed with finding the secret. Such a preoccupation or fixation is easily understood by we fellow researchers, but hopefully we do not exclude all external stimuli to the degree he did.  We are required to work, to earn a living and provide for our families to some extent, if possible.  This limits the time we can spend in our chosen field of research, but Bessler states that the chief reason he succeeded when all before had failed, was for the very simple reason that he had no family and no income other than that required to feed, clothe himself and fund his activities.  He was therefore able to devote evey working hour to finding the secret of perpetual motion.

This brings me to another aspect of our research.  Much is made of the marvellous ability of simulation software to permit the testing of various designs.  Yes I agree it can be a great time and expense saver, but only if you have the complete design available to input. One of the greatest benefits for me has been the occasional 'eureka' moment when, in mid-assembly of a particular mechanism, I suddenly see an alternative which looks more hopeful than the current design, and I either complete the assembly I'm working on before returning to the new avenue of promise to test my new revelation, or sometimes I forgo completion of the current assembly and go straight to the modified version.

I'm sure many will say that obviously the new avenue of design did not fulfill its promise and therefore such revelations are not worth exxperiencing, but I disagree.  One of those periodic revelations were exactly what Bessler experienced and many of us who insist that hands-on building is the only way to achieve success know exactly what I mean.

One more thing; producing a sim of a working wheel will have absolutely no benefit in convincing the vast numbers of sceptics in accepting the claim to success.  Neither will producing a video of a working wheel.  The only thing that will convince is the precise description of all the parts with explanations of how and why they work ...plus a full explanation of the actual concept; the reason why it does not conflict with the physical laws.  Once that information is published and enough people test the theory and explanation to prove the claims, then and only then will the concept be accepted and become incorporated in the world of science.

JC

Trading Width and Height, a Curiousity.

This subject regularly pops up on the besslerwheel forum but no progress has been made in finding a way to use the principle to advantage.  A few years ago I found something I thought might have some mileage, but I've never seen it discussed so I decided to offer it here.

In the drawing below, the curved red arrow in fig 1 shows the path of a weight on the end of a lever, starting at the twelve o’clock position it falls to three o’clock.  The green lines show that the width and the height measurements are the same.  The letter 'C' is supposed to represent the centre of a wheel and is therefore at the point of rotation of a proposed wheel upon which the mechanism is mounted

In the second drawing below the upper portion of the red curved line, shows by the green lines that the weighted lever has fallen a shorter distance than it has  moved horizontally.  On the other hand the lower portion of the red curved line shows by means of the blue lines, that the horizontal distance is much shorter than the vertical distance.

Can we use this to design a mechanical advantage? Arranged on a revolving wheel it might perhaps be possible.

I've done some work on this and I thought it might be of interest.  If you use the drawings or discuss it anywhere else I'd appreciate due acknowledgement and a link to this blog.

JC

Errant Assumptions - they are usually at the root of nearly all failures.

There is some muddled thinking going on and I'd like to clarify what I believe are facts.

Firstly Bessler's first two wheels began to spin spontaneously as soon as a brake was released.  For some reason a few people find this fact hard to accept.  For the wheel to do this means that it was in a state of imbalance at all times.  This is not hard to understand, in fact I think that it is a prerequisite for a continually spinning wheel.  The evidence that his wheels did start without a push is well documented and I am puzzled by the seeming scepticism that is engendered in some people's mind.

There is also a tendency to assume that there were eight weights and/or mechanisms in the wheels - why? The only evidence which includes the suggestion that eight weights were in a wheel, is in Fischer Von Erlach's report on his two hour examination of the Kassel wheel. As I've said many times, the Kassel wheel was different to the two earliest wheels because it could turn in either direction, whereas the earliest ones only turned in one direction, plus it needed a gentle push in one direction or the other before it began to accelerate to its maximum speed.  The conclusion is obvious and again is backed up by documentary evidence, the interior design of the Kassel wheel and it's predecessor, the Merseberg wheel were more complex.  So why assume there must have been eight weights inside the first two wheels?  Or, why try to design a more complex wheel before you've managed to build a successful one direction wheel?

Then there are the energy sources sought for the wheels; the minuscule depletion of mass to drive a twelve foot wheel!  Ridiculous!  Gravity enabled but not the direct source? Do we pick and choose which comments Bessler made and discard those we find hard to accept?  If we think Bessler's claims were genuine then the solution lies, as he said, within the weights themselves Manipulation of falling weights is the only possible scenario which ties in with Bessler's description and it must be possible even if no design has been discovered so far. It's not using gravity directly but using the result of gravity acting on a weight and making it fall.  Some say what's the difference? Well for those who are particular about such things, the fine detail must be examined, if we continue to believe Bessler, but at the same time accept that gravity itself cannot be used as a form of energy, that leaves, as Bessler, put it, the weights themselves.  The only energy available is that which results in the weights moving under the influence of gravity.

It's a bit like the official view on heavier-than-air machines before the Wright brothers showed how it could be done.  The theory of gliders was recognised long before the Wrights achieved powered flight, but before them there was no suitable engine, they were too heavy.  It was the introduction of an aluminium crank case which lightened the engine enough to allow the airframe to lift it in flight. Yet the academic response to their claims and even to a model that actually flew, was denial.  But people believed instinctively that it might be possible to fly an aircraft, in the same way that we believe that is possible to construct a weight driven wheel which will spin continuously.

We need to keep it simple, just as Karl described the interior of Bessler's wheel, so simple a carpenter's boy could make one if he was allowed to study it for a short while.  Anything which requires complex mechanics should be avoided.  Bessler was afraid that people wouldn't think the wheel worth so much money once they knew how it was done - that is what he said.

Ignore anything which does not apply to the one way wheels, but rule out nothing.  Conflicting advice?  No, but don't just assume eight weights/mechanisms are necessary.  Accept that the wheel started spontaneously when the brake was released.  Make a working model; the Wright brothers did and even then there were many sceptics who denied its possibility, so we have an uphill struggle even if a working model is produced so for that reason, in my opinion, simulations are a waste of time.

JC

Johann Bessler left Clues both Textual and Graphic.

It has always seemed obvious to me, that if Johann Bessler was genuine he would have wanted to leave precise information in a publicly accessible place, about how his wheel worked, otherwise without a sale, he could never dream of final acknowledgement of his amazing achievement, even if it was after his death.  The options are limited to placing such information in one or more of his published works, leaving it for post humous discovery, either connected in some way with his private vault, or in his papers which had not yet been published, including private notes, letters and of course his Maschinen Tractate (MT) which he never got around to publishing. He obviously intended to publish it but his circumstances prevented it.  We already know that some important information had originally been included in his MT because he says so on the frontispiece, that he has burned or buried some pages which reveal the secret but a careful study of the remaining ones may eventually lead to the solution.

This short piece of handwriting on the front of the manuscript, with its strong hint that the secret is available to those with eyes to see, has tempted many researchers to study the 141 drawings, some of which have short notes attached.  For me the secret has so far remained too well hidden, apart from the final page, curiously numbered 138, 139, 140 and 141, as if this page replaces the four he removed.  It does offer some interesting pointers, but more is needed I believe, before sense can be made of the odd collection of items, which I labelled the 'Toys' page, in my original biography of Bessler, 'Perpetual Motion; An Ancient Mystery Solved?'

The MT is also full of other pieces of code which seem to hint at hidden information, but although these can be readily identified, what information I have been able to interpret seems too scant to be of use. But there is another researcher (O) who has made some astonishing discoveries within the MT.

But with or without the mysterious MT to guide you, there are ample other areas suitable for study, which were clearly intended to lead the determined researcher to the solution.  Apologia Poetica, was Bessler's personal account of his long search for the secret of Perpetual Motion.  It contains a number of  different encoding methods, all of which appear to be legitimate and carry a hidden message.  I'm not going to go into them all in detail here but you can learn about some of them by visiting my other web sites all of which are listed on the right side of this page.

Logic suggests that somewhere there must be drawings which were intended to help us get to the secret of the wheel, because all the words in the world will never be equal to some graphic explanations. The only problem is that the drawings must be extremely cleverly disguised.  KB has claimed that he has managed to extract much encoded information that he says he discovered within the two portraits Bessler included at the front of his last and most professional publication, Das Triumphirende.  I cannot comment on what he has found as I have no idea what it is. Das Triumphirende, was a selling aid or advertisement for his wheel.  It is written in both German and Latin, which was  clever because all lectures at universities were carried out in Latin, so it would seem that he was appealing to the more intellectual members of society in the hope of gaining some credibility among those elite.

Within this book are a number of drawings which depict his wheel from various viewpoints and positions and these were very carefully drawn.  Again there are a number of what I would call, discrepancies, apparent errors, which litter the drawings, which might give the impression of carelessness, but a closer look shows how precise the drawings are.

JC

5th February - 72 today! Update

It's my birthday today so I thought I'd write something a little different.  First an update.

Building work is drawing to a close on my house.  My log cabin which is now known fondly, in my family as Bessler Research Activity and Inspiration  Nerve centre (BRAIN!)  is finished and has all my drawings, computer files etc in it, but actual hands-on work is now possible in my somewhat truncated garage.

I think I'm in pretty good health but I remember back in school reading George Orwell's book, 1984, and wondering if I'd make it to that date!  So far so good! That phrase reminds me of Steve McQueen's comment in the film, "The Magnificent Seven", when he said, “It reminds me of that fellow back home that fell off a ten story building. As he was falling people on each floor kept hearing him say, "So far, so good."'

Two people known to me suffered brain aneurisms last year, one was only 40 and survived thank goodness - it was touch and go; but the other, who was in her seventies died.  So it is not sufficient to assume good health is enough, you need some good luck too, to avoid these invisible weaknesses which can manifest themselves at any moment without warning.

So my new year resolution is to publish my research this year pending success or failure in my wheel building.  Now that I have my workshop back and the workmen are about to leave us in peace, I can get on with it all.

One of the unavoidable consequences of this research which is full of documentary information is that the information is ambiguous.  It is all presented in a 300 year old foreign language, it apparently includes encoded information, but no one is sure what this information is designed to reveal; will it be Bessler's last laugh, tying us up in knots in our attempts to extract real information, which is only the inventor showing us how he fooled everyone, or will it contain actual instructions for building his wheel?

This ambiguity leads to numerous false starts, and the dissemination of inaccurate or just plain wrong information presented as fact.  But as time goes by I see also a faint light at the end of a very long tunnel.  It is my firm belief that Bessler strived to leave sufficient information after his death, to allow us to work out his discovery and reconstruct his wheel, but he also had to find a way to prevent those people in his day from working out his secret.  These two requirements were and are incompatible. This makes our job doubly hard.  Are we in the 21st century any cleverer than those of Bessler's day?

People such as Blaise Pascall, Sir Isaac Newton, Gottfried Leibniz, Leonard Euler - the list in endless, that tiny sample of people of Bessler's day demonstrates that the human mind was at least as ingenious as any today, so how do you go about leaving information encoded in such a way that people of those days could not decipher the message and yet others of a later age could do it?

I came to the conclusion mnay years ago that Bessler must have left something in his family grave which would point the way to full disclosure.  We know he obtained permission to be buried in his own vault in his garden.  I and another reseacher sought details of the burial site and came to the conclusion that the site was covered by a carpark, and was probably destroyed at some point prior to its construction.  The only other potential site was the windmill from which he fell to his death; but this did not belong to him and he must have built it assuming that he would return to his home and garden once that commission had been completed.  It is therefore most unlikely that that anything of value would be found there.  I have also visted the windmill which is still in existance although in a somewhat ruinous state.

To my mind that is the most likely method he might have chosen to direct those who searched for a solution after his death.  Nevertheless, I remain confident that my own research will provide a lead in the right direction if not the complete reconstruction and it will be apparent this year.

Cheers

JC