Millions of people often dream perpetual motion but only
one in million may actually try to invent it; and out of those who try, only one in thousands succeeds, that is also only
after a life long struggle. If one succeeds, he would be amazed to see that perpetual
motion is indeed very simple. The ‘very simplicity’ of machine is
also cause of trouble to inventor because once seen, it can be easily duplicated. Ramanada said: : "A perpetual motion machine is not to be considered complete until you have constructed it so simple and clear that you can explain it to the first child whom you meet on the street." Here this
clearness and simplicity of construction is insisted on for a perpetual motion machine, because what is clear, easily constructed
and comprehended attracts us, the complicated repels us.
So far perpetual motion problem
has been difficult in order to entice us, yet not completely inaccessible, lest it mock at our efforts. Orffyreus’ wheel
has served as a guide post on the mazy paths to hidden truths and it is ultimately a reminder of our pleasure in the successful
solution of the problem. Though few perpetual motion inventors have been accustomed to devote themselves to the solution of
perpetual motion with passionate zeal, many really don’t know how to begin.
In brief, here is one simple method to this hoary headed problem- how to begin?
First, fabricate a simple wheel of suitable size carrying axle and support for mounting. After arranging levers in a clever manner across the diameter line of the wheel, the
only required thing is to balance weights against each other as we often do in weighing articles on a balance. The next step is to provide weights the freedom of movement, vertically and horizontally to enable them
roll across the diameter line of the wheel. When it is done, you will observe finally that when weights move away from center,
they cause sudden imbalance, which in turn produce great torque. You will be
delighted to see that torque produced in every cycle is enough to keep whole assembly running forever and in addition generating
usable power out of nothing!
Constructed more or less in this manner, Orffyreus’ perpetual motion machine was indeed simple.
Orffyreus himself remarked: "It is so well designed that
it is not necessary to stop it to carry out repairs or servicing."1 Count Karl had also admitted that machine was simple arraignment of levers that even a carpenter boy could construct.
He was surprised that no one had ever discovered the secret before.
But
a survey of attempts to construct perpetual motion shows that inventors have striven and strayed much; and produced complicated
designs in vain. Moreover, many others have speculated fantastically on the possible working principle of the machine without
doing any real work. Weird theories have been propounded to account for the production
of power by Orffyreus machine. Based on Orffyreus -Wheel, there are many similar designs and experiments with different concepts. Mostly these machines are based on shifting weights, overturn of weights at pendulums or complex constructions
with rods and lever arms. None of these machines are told to run continuously
by itself. Some flaw is always there.
The Mechanism: How Did Orffyreus Wheel Move?
Let us first examine speculations of man who were close to Orffyreus and involved with his machine. I mean contemporaries
of Orffyreus who took part in examinations, demonstrations and negotiations of his wheel for sale. When Teubers’ letter gave sensational news to Leibniz about Orffyreus’ amazing invention, he could not believe the fact that anyone could invent a true perpetual motion; instead
he suspected that ‘compressed gas’ might be the source of motive power.
On
21st February, 1714, Leibniz
replied Teuber with the following remarks:
“…I cannot believe that
someone has invented perpetual motion. In my opinion, it is contrary to nature’s laws. I suspect that what you saw in the wheel was the action of highly compressed air. However, it would
need to be recompressed after a short time. If the machine were able to show continuous movement for 24 hours whilst under
lock and seal; or in the presence of witnesses could remain in motion for 24 hours without any additional input of energy,
and if it could still apply great force, for example lifting heavy stamps, it might be very interesting. But even then the
motion might not be purely mechanical, but rather, physical [i.e. non-mechanical]…”
Professor Wolff also erroneously suspected that some mysterious
fluid in the form of invisible matter was responsible for the movements of weights and machine. On 3rd July, 1722, in order to settle the negotiations, he sent a report to his Majesty the Czar. Report described professor
Wolff’s speculations on Orffyreus’ machine.
He stated:
“Since it is impossible,
according to mathematical proof, for a machine to run continuously by its own force, some
matter from outside must contribute to its motion. That matter cannot be perceived by any of the senses but could be made
use of
by people who know nature better. I suggest, therefore,
that the weights on the wheel’s periphery are attached by rods in such a way that when at rest on the lighter side of
the wheel, they can be lifted, but when they start to fall, after the wheel has turned, they deliver a force on impact, acquired
during the fall, onto a piece of wood which is fixed to the periphery. In this way, the wheel is put into rotation by the
impact of the weights, which can be heard. But the force which drives the weights, does not come from the machine itself,
rather it comes from some fluid, invisible matter by which the movement of the falling weights becomes faster and faster.
Orffyreus’ whole invention consists of an artful arrangement of weights, in such a way that they are lifted when at
rest and acquire force during their fall, and in my opinion it is this that he keeps secret. This is also consistent with
what Orffyreus says, that anyone could easily understand his invention, as soon as he is allowed to look into the wheel.”
Perpetual motion is undoubtedly an amazing phenomenon as it creates usable power from nothing
without expenditure of energy, thus violating law of conservation of energy. But, without actually seeing a working model
of perpetual motion machine, one cannot believe and thus have clear conception of perpetual motion. Confusion prevails because inventors continue to guard the secret and scientists are poor guys to have
no access to a true perpetual motion device. For this reason, they have failed to understand basic concept of perpetual motion
and misinterpreted Orffyreus wonderful machine also in the light of their putative laws of thermodynamics.
For
instance, mathematician, Jean Bernoulli wrote:
“...any motion which exists in nature can be used to support a perpetual
motion. In these instances such machines cannot be regarded as purely artificial perpetual motion, but rather as a combined
perpetual motion because their motion is assisted by nature. I am convinced that Bessler's Wheel is of this type."
To a large extent, Orffyreus himself was responsible for this state of affair that led majority
to doubt his invention. To safeguard his invention, he deliberately tried to create confusion among people by hiding the secret,
by producing obscure drawings and by writing in parables. We are intrigued to see that Orffyreus has gone great lengths in
producing his 142 wood engravings without revealing the secret. Everywhere in landscape of drawings, we see elements that
make no sense to us: ropes curling around axle, exuberance of levers, wheels within wheels, pendulum oscillating here and
there - all creating confusion to readers who desire to understand his invention.
Orffyreus simply does not want anyone to invent perpetual motion overnight, which today's
perpetual motionist would like to do without much perspiration. He was aware
that most of the people would like to grab his secret without doing any
sort of hard work on perpetual motion machine. Orffyreus is a perfect counselor;
he is not going to provide a ready-made solution to the problem. He is only acting
as a guide, one has to solve problem by one’s own effort, he has to realize his abilities before he is going to tackle
the problem.
In my opinion, his
engravings show us various stages of development of his perpetual motion machine. Step by step, Orffyreus takes us through
various stages of his plan that finally leads to construction of perpetual motion machine.
Orffyreus himself remarked:
“ If anyone wants to guess about the truth of my invention, he needs
to carefully ponder upon the loosely-depicted symbolically-rich drama of words that I now cause to rain down upon him from
above (with each rain drop from heaven representing a portion of the total picture of the shower). . I have written my little book riddle so that only with a mature or complete understanding of how my invention
actually works, can one fully understand or appreciate why I have chosen the symbols that I have chosen. With proper understanding, many portions of my little book can be viewed according to many levels symbolically.”
At present, we have a large number of Orffyreus enthusiasts.
The people involved want Orffyreus’ secret to be rediscovered, tested, and shared as a working model. These people
also want information to be freely shared so that the Orffyreus’ principles can be duplicated for use around the world.
To that end, few talented people are decoding the clues for study. They also
want anyone interested or who may want to offer advice or insights into the operation of the device. This is all good but
at the same time I am amused to see that most of them erroneously think that
even at the beginning of 1717, Orffyreus had all access to some great technology, which is even not known to modern technology
today. They have tried to force interpretation of parables in light of knowledge,
which comes from weird theories of over unity devices claimed by inventors today. Largely,
relying on the knowledge of over unity devices, they are in error as Orffyreus machine is entirely a different case from what they speculates. Moreover, their explanations
are not consistent with the eyewitness accounts of Orffyreus machine and what Orffyreus himself tells about his invention
i.e. simplicity of his machine.
In attempt to decode his parables, seekers have digressed
very much. Their speculations consist of many weird schemes and some strangest
technologies, which are not even possessed by the modern science and which even cannot be conceived by best inventive talents
of the world today. If Orffyreus were alive today, he would certainly laugh to
see people making blunders in their speculations. At the same time, he would also regret to see how they are misinterpreting
his simple machine. He must forgive them.
Seekers are tempted to find secret of Orffyreus perpetual motion machine in every place,
in his every act, in each of his drawings and in its every bit. No one knows
whether such a practice will take the seekers to paradise or drive them insane. One
must exercise utmost patience in reading Orffyreus drawings; he must not rush to conclusions.
If you only casually look at his drawings, you will not see very much. However,
when one begins to study the details and find a clue or code he discovers a trail of clues.
One must avoid reading too much into the documents, without overlooking
the valuable evidence contained in records of witnesses.
Orffyreus machine was genuine. It was simple but contained artful arrangement of levers and weights inside the wheel. Contrary to it, authors, researchers, readers, friends, as well as enemies of perpetual motion have different
opinions, suggestions, speculations, and explanations on Orffyreus wonderful wheel.
Following points illustrate the height of ignorance and delusion into which many have fallen. There is little hope that they would ever be able to find any solution to Orffyreus’ riddle.
1.The machine was driven by a hidden, external means.
2. There was a man in the wheel. Orffyreus was a
magician.
3. The wheel was wound up. Orffyreus was an expert
clock maker.
4. Bessler stored energy in the wheel using some other,
newly discovered means. For example, Leibniz suggested
compressed
air.
5. Many other suggest that Orffyreus had an access to
some advanced technology. They have speculated on yet
undetected property of mass, gravity, magnetism, or a
previously unknown principle that refutes the axiom on
which the Laws of Thermodynamics are based.
It is true that Orffyreus machine used gravity to keep it running by shifting the weights. However, many erroneously
suggest that anything that has a difference of potential can be tapped to do work. They consider “gravity as a force,
which has a gradient”. “As you move higher above the earth, gravity is less. In space, gravity is essentially
gone.” They argue further, “Anything that has a gradient has a difference of potential between the layers that
produce the gradient. Anything that has a difference of potential can be tapped
to do work.”
Many suggest that quantum, or particle theories of gravity
can one day shed light on how the Bessler Wheel worked. They are hopeful that if Orffyreus’ secret is known, current
understanding of the universe will go through another paradigm shift as radical as that of Newtonian Physics or General Relativity.
In Orffyreus’ times, his enemies as well as many others, regarded the whole story as a gigantic fraud. But, in
present time also, there is no end to disbelievers and their strange doubts. Vague
and false evaluations of Orffyreus’ remarkable work still go on without shame. There are plots and attempts to discredit
the inventor.
We have large number of books, websites, and articles
that either undermine great discovery of Orffyreus or carry miserable misinterpretations of his invention. Web is also littered
with many articles about the same. For paucity of space and time, it would
not possible to go into details and quote every work that is in grave error. To show how Orffyreus devotees have indulged
in grotesque interpretation of his wheel and everything he did in his lifetime, here, I will only select and comment on the
works of few the authors namely, Ord-Hume, J. Collins, Elden E. Park. Alfred Evert, and Jain Rutowsky.
1 See p. 205 of Collins'
book- Perpetual Motion : An Ancient Mystery Solved ?
Arthur W.J.G. Ord-Hume
Arthur
W.J.G. Ord-Hume's book “Perpetual Motion : The History of an Obsession is first
of its kind exclusively devoted to the study of perpetual motion in recent times. He is a qualified mechanical engineer, designer
of civil and military jets and small planes, author of technical papers and books on aircraft instruction, and also an authority
on mechanical musical instruments.
Ord-Hume’s
book presents a lively, engrossing history of the perpetual motion search but it does no justice to Orffyreus. Even a cursory
reading of the book itself will allow most to realize that Ord Hume’s negative and sloppy attitude towards Orffyreus’
perpetual motion fails to reflect accurately the book's intent, content,
and audience. Though evidence presented by Gravesande and Baron Fisher is plenty, W.J.G. Hume has judged Orffyreus’
invention incorrectly in the light of prevailing beliefs in science. It is unfortunate, he treats his invention as a fraud, He has failed to judge it impartially as he has been guided
by prejudice rather than the sound evidence presented by Gravesande and Baron Fisher.
Like the rest of the scientist, Ord-Hume also considers perpetual motion as something
impossible contrary to laws of science. Based on a cursory inspection of some of the document on perpetual motion, his judgment
on perpetual motion is erroneous. Clearly, he lacks necessary insight and background
to understand perpetual motion, no wonder he has sided with scientist and in doing so utterly failed to understand Orffyreus
and his remarkable work. Without some faith in perpetual motion, it could not have been possible for him to write a 250 pages book on perpetual
motion but he lacks necessary courage to break away from tradition and recognize perpetual motion. For him, to accept the fact that ‘perpetual motion is possible’ - is too revolutionary because
it departs too far from reigning theories and cannot be fitted into the current body of knowledge. Hume is a poor guy who
loves perpetual motion but has no courage to accept it openly and boldly. Excuse me! He is like a coward who sincerely loves
a controversial woman in character but for fear of being criticized, ridiculed and losing status in the society, he has no
courage to court her. Some readers of the book
have complained that the whole tenor of this book is negative—discouraging to folks who might wish to pursue the holy
grail of perpetual motion.
In his book, Ord Hume devotes greater
time to explain perpetual lamps than correctly researching the Orffyreus case. Kevin
T. Kilty (kilty.com/pmotion) comments:
“Ord-Hume
spends several pages examining ways to explain the observation of perpetual lamps. This
is giving too much serious attention to a fantasy. It is likely that no one ever
observed any such lamp. They belong to the realm of myth like the unicorns and
half-man beasts.”
I believe, observations and comments from learned investigators
on Orffyreus perpetual motion machine are as valuable as running account of the phenomena.
Among them, the presence of the Gravesande, a leading physicist of his time increases the authenticity of the report. His letter to Newton, extolling the virtue of the machine to Newton stand as a monument to Gravesande's intellectual integrity and shows
his love for the truth without being biased. Fortunately, Gravesande was not
a layperson but a reputed man of science. Nevertheless, many might have believed
the testimony to be doubtful because it is the tradition to believe that testimony of lay persons or academics in the humanities
is less reliable than that of a prominent scientist, though such a prejudice is remarkably stubborn. We need no further proof of perpetual motion machine, as investigations of Gravesande constitute a valuable
body of evidence. Thanks to Gravesande, he was level headed and scrupulous in
writing his report even after Orffyreus turned crazy on account of his impertinent curiosity, which eventually led to a tragic
end to the whole story. We can forgive him; it was all due to his curiosity!
However, still there are those who doubt even the integrity of the learned professor and his letter. In his book,Ord-Hume’s fails to make a right appraisal of professor’s
talents, integrity and Orffyreus’ wheel. It is disappointingly evident from his remarks.
Ord Humes writes:
“ The professor certainly appears to have had some measure of faith in the wheel and the demonstration of its
ability to turn without external force. We ought not to forget, though, that
it may have proved easy to dupe an honest old man whose confidence in humanity was probably unbounded… There seems little doubt that Orffyreus wheel was a fraud being driven by some mechanism in the very large
diameter axle, its builder was at one time a clock maker and even as early as this, clocks could be made to run for a lengthy
time without rewinding, forty days, then was not a lengthy time. Properly balanced,
the momentum of a wheel of this size would certainly allow an impressive show of work at intervals, particularly if the drive
was taken from the axle!”
Despite the irrefutable evidence, like Ord Hume
most of the readers will have objections and difficulties in accepting Gravesande’s report containing his observation
and conclusions about the invention. This is only because conclusions cannot be a reconciled with present knowledge of physical
world- a strange prejudice!
Through out
his life, Gravesande remain well convinced of integrity of Orffyreus in spite of the fact that he himself took risk to lose
his reputation. He was grieved to see that Orffyreus was caught in a conspiracy.
Whenever occasion arrived, he defended Orffyreus case in strong terms:
"I know well that Orffyreus is a crackpot, but I don't believe he is a fraud.
I have never decided that his machine is fraud, but I know one thing for sure: if the maid said this, she is a liar."*
It was hard for Gravesande to believe in possibility of mechanical
perpetual motion machine but Orffyreus case forced him to change his opinion. He
already believed in chemical perpetual motion.
* (translated from Michal, p.111)
J. Collins Work
However, it is matter of big satisfaction that there are few good works and opinions to
support Orffyreus work and his cause. Many scholars have worked hard to understand Orffyreus work. They consider that the
inventor should have been rewarded for what he deserved.
One of the best books on the life of Orffyreus is “Perpetual Motion: An Ancient mystery
solved? - By John Collins
John Collins, an engineer and native of England learnt about Orffyreus at tender age of just 15. He says that he became an admirer of Orffyreus when at his young age he intuitively
learnt that Orffyreus was a genuine inventor, however he noted glaring errors and several inconsistencies in the descriptions
of Orffyreus and his invention in the previous works of various authors. A desire
to produce authentic work on the life of Orffyreus led him to make a through investigation into his invention. Collins went to archives in UK, Germany, and Russia to get every possible evidence and information about the Orffyreus. His long researches and findings on Orffyreus finally took form of the book entitled
as "Perpetual Motion: An ancient mystery solved?" He had to self publish the book because no publisher dared to associate
him with perpetual motion, which according to science is ridiculous and not worthy of any attention.
His
book is out and away the best work on the life of the Orffyreus. His arguments
for the acceptance of the proposition that ‘Orffyreus was a genuine inventor’ are reasonable, and documented with
good evidence. His researches on the life and works of Orffyreus holds the ground
very well and an eye opener to disbelivers.
As far as explanation of working mechanism of Orffyreus wheel
is concerned his biographer has also missed the correct answer. Collin is under a dilemma at his point. He tries hard to establish that Orffyreus machine was genuine, at the same time he wish to convince the
scientific community that such a machine does not violate conservation principle! It
is like bringing different poles of a magnet together; evidently, he attempts to reconcile two contradictory things, which
is futile. And he does so not to offend the scientific community.
I
am surprised to see that authors like Collins and many other Orffyreus’ enthusiasts who have devoted their precious
time to the studies of perpetual motion for the benefit of the people, even lack courage to reject law of conservation of
energy. They fail to understand the simple fact that law of conservation of energy and perpetual motion are incompatible with
each other. Law of conservation of energy is outcome of false speculations of
the Greek philosophers who proclaimed, “You cannot get something out of nothing”; moreover, Greek philosophers
themselves never performed any experiment, as they hated the manual labor.
Obsessed with conservation principle of energy or lacking courage to go against this doctrine, J. Collins also seems
to be confused on the vital point whether perpetual motion violates law of conservation of energy or not. He is grossly in error when he says Orffyreus’ wheel does not violate first law of the thermodynamics. How can it be possible? By definition,
there can be no perpetual motion without violation of the first law of thermodynamics.
In fact, science defines perpetual motion as any device which violates the first law of thermodynamics ( i.e. law of
conservation of energy ), in other words perpetual motion of the first kind. Collins makes a futile attempt to reconcile Orffyreus machine and first law of thermodynamics
in his new theory on perpetual motion. He claims to propose a theory, which according
to him accounts for Bessemer’s success without overturning any scientific law. He has set out
to prove that Orffyreus machine did not contradict nor debase current scientific theory and practice which is false.
In
my opinion, Orffyreus was a first law violator and his machine created energy out of nothing and did all types of useful work
without diminishing an equivalent amount of energy from anywhere. Therefore, without violating the first law of thermodynamics
there can be no theory of perpetual motion and thus any explanation for the Orffyreus wheel.
What are the reasons? Why does Collins try hard
to reconcile two contradictory things, which stand like two opposite poles of a magnet?
Why does he seem to obsess very much with current laws of science?
Let us see first how John Collins treats a perpetual motion machine in light of prevailing law of energy conservation.
To quote him –
“...science
does not acknowledge the possibility of designing a machine which will acquire sufficient energy of itself, to drive other
machines, without accessing that energy from outside itself - and never do I..”
It is evident that Collin has no wish to go against the well-established law which has suppressed
the zeal of the perpetual motionist for hundred of the years. In fact, it requires
an extraordinary courage to go against the established law and without a working machine in hand, no one in present time can
venture to go against the law of conservation of the energy. Collin is doing
a balancing role. He applauds Orffyreus work, at the same time he does not want
to go against tradition and offend the scientist. He misconceives a world
where scientific laws are not violated but perpetual motion exists!
He
wishes to justify perpetual motion but at the same time, he clings to conservation principle.
So where does Collins really stand? I think he stands nowhere.
He is like a lover who is sincerely in love with a woman of controversial
character but has no courage to court her for fear of being ridiculed and criticized by the world!! Perpetual motion demands a greater commitment to court her!!
Perpetual motion needs commitment and hard work. We must recall here what Orffyreus himself
said:
“...My deeds will not be revealed prematurely. Should anyone wish to speculate about the truth...?”
And it is my conviction that whosoever is conditioned and biased in his mind under the hypnotic
influence of conservation principle, will never be able to rediscover the truth of perpetual motion. Collins approach to yield before conservation principle is regrettable.
Could Orffyreus himself have embarked on perpetual motion without challenging the opinion of all his contemporaries
who were advocating conservation of vis-viva in his time? They were like hundreds
of parrot on a tree twittering in unison only because others were twittering! The
main difference between Orffyreus thinking and thinking of other scientist in his age seems to have been that Orffyreus intuitively
hungered harder for the fundamental of the things, for the larger view, the broader perspective, the simpler hypothesis with
simple experiment. So deeply did he yearn for basic truth, in fact, that he resisted
the corrosion of prejudice more successfully than anyone else and overcame the strong human temptation to take things for
granted; to assume something true because every body "knows" it to be true. There
is no need for Collins to totter in the end after writing and producing such a nice work on perpetual motion.
Collins has also miserably failed in guessing the real working
mechanism of Orffyreus wheel, which was nothing more than an artful arrangement of levers and weights. Collins' speculative
yin-yang2 water compartments device (based both on the oldest versions
of the yin-yang symbol with a wavy version connection and on the culturally-diverse ancient swastika symbol of prosperity
and good fortune, when two such yin-yang machines are joined at 90 degrees out of phase) has nothing to do with Orffyreus
machine.
Collins has worked
hard to bring the truth but many have failed to understand his work. A web site
crankdot.net as the name itself suggests, evaluates Collins work to be useless, and puts it under category cranky, which is
very unfortunate. Perpetual motionists need to unite all over the world to rebuke
the agnostics.
2 See pp. 222-223 of Collins' book for the yin-yang discussion.
Alden E. Park and His
Speculations on Orffyreus’ Wheel
In his article “Some Thoughts
on a Simple Explanation of Bessler’s Wheel: Bessler’s Wheel Uncovered with an Interpretation of Bessler’s
Little Book- A Delayed Gift to the World”, Alden E. Park speculates that the coding of letters from "Bessler" to "Orffyre"
using a circle (p. 181 of Collins' book) with the 26 letters of the alphabet around the edge of the circle and one translating
by going directly across through the middle of the circle might represent the energy going directly across the circle from
the dual pointed heavy weight to the torque governor wheel. It might also represent
the energy suddenly being sent from the torque governor wheel.
Alden E. Park also commits error when he talks about Orffyreus
wheel and level of friction in it. He says:
“ I
was really grabbing at straws. Bessler pretty much avoided the large static coefficients of friction. As far as how the coefficient of friction varies with speed for the moving situations, this is not obvious
to me. I might guess that the coefficient of friction decreases with increasing
speed until it gets to some speed. Just where this point is, is not obvious to
me and we should properly leave the situation to experimentation anyway.”
Alden E. Park suggests that the Ranque effect or some
Ranque-like effect might be responsible for the power production in a Bessler wheel (with hot air molecules on the inside
of the Bessler wheel but near the outer wheel edge with the weights designed to capture some of the energy).
His paper also refers to other potential modern methods
for power extraction and materials processing. Various hybrid technologies are
suggested, such as combining the Orffyrean roller bearing technology with either some electromagnetic (EM) over-unity engines
or Collins' speculative yin-yang device. His paper also contains a speculative suggestion, based on reasonable evidence, that
the sun may produce energy primarily from gravity instead of from hot fusion.
Alden E. Park’s speculation does not end here. In
an attempt to decode Orffyreus ‘ chastic riddles’, he invents entirely a new physics. He talks about “Internal
Rotational States”. He raises the question:
“Is there a relationship between the Bessler
pendulum and the notion of rotating nuclear ground states? Aside from the common
ideas of internal angular velocities and changes of states, the idea of internally rotating nuclear-ground-states has potential
for being used in the explanation of why the Bessler pendulum works.” </
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