Customer Reviews

Perpetual Motion; An Ancient Mystery Solved?

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

John Collins tells us that this book is the result of his 30 years of research into the story of Johann Ernst Elias Bessler (1680-1745), who called himself Orffyreus (a name derived from his own by a substitution cipher). It is a biography of the man and his times, and an account of the several mechanical wheels he built and publicly demonstrated. He claimed these could produce continuous motion and even useful work, without power input.

The first 11 chapters are the most valuable part of this book, for they tell an interesting story, with excerpts from contemporary sources, letters, newspaper accounts, eyewitness accounts--material not available elsewhere in one place. The book is so generous with details that it becomes tiresomely repetitious in places, but lengthy passages can be skimmed without serious loss.

This was a time of great advances in engineering and physics, but also a time in which such modern ideas as energy and momentum were only vaguely understood by even the best scientists. In fact, the difference between energy and momentum hadn't been resolved. There were some pretty competent scientists then: Isaac Newton, (1642-1726), Gotfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716), and Willem Jacob 's Gravesande (1688-1742), who play roles in this story, though Newton, detesting controversy, stayed out of it.

Interest in this episode continues because, while certain historical facts are undeniable, much about it remains a mystery. Bessler himself was an unpredictable and often unreasonable individual, desperately trying to preserve his secrets, and hoping to sell them for a considerable sum of money. His public demonstrations of his wheel were carefully staged to prevent its close examination. Whenever he felt that someone was too close to discovering something about it, he would "destroy" (dismantle) the machine to prevent disclosure of its method of operation. Where there is incomplete information, people persist in inventing mysteries.

Does John Collins "put forward a convincing argument" that Bessel's machine was capable of extracting energy continuously from gravity? Not at all. Collins' convictions about this pervade most of the book, but are only explicitly brought forth in the concluding chapters. So that doesn't detract seriously from the historical and biographical heart of his story. His subtitle "An ancient mystery solved?" is a clue. If Collins provided a persuasive solution, the "?" wouldn't be necessary. This is much like the disingenuous "you be the judge" disclaimer of those schlocky "unsolved mysteries" programs on television.

The cover blurb declares that the book is "An investigation into the legend of Bessler's wheel". That's accurate, for my dictionary defines "legend" as a story that is "popularly regarded as historical although not verifiable". This story is documented, in letters, newspaper accounts and Bessler's own books, and Collins provides lengthy excerpts from these in abundance. But much that we would wish to know that would help us make sense of this is not known, and only speculation.

The cover text also declares that this story presents "The revolutionary concept which offers a solution to the world-wide energy crisis." This seems designed help sell the book, for the public is eager for a magic solution to the energy crisis. Collins' concluding chapter 13 "Prime mover for the millennium" adopts a sensationalist style, full of speculation about the wonderful consequences IF certain of his assumptions were proven to be correct. This is mere fluff.

In his chapter 12 "The secret", one expects to find out how Bessler accomplished his wonderful public demonstrations. Alas, we do not. Collins teases us with semantics, pointing out (correctly) that the meaning of "perpetual motion" is much abused, and had a different connotation in Bessler's time than it does today. Then he asserts that Bessler's machine did work as advertised, that it did not violate any physics laws, and that if could could recreate it today it would provide unlimited energy for all. Unfortunately he does not deliver on these claims.

Collins frequently tries to convince us that Bessler did not engage in deception, but was an honest seeker after truth. Others who have examined this story (myself included) are not so sure. Bessler's carefully staged demonstrations were deliberately designed to conceal rather than reveal, much as a stage magician uses deception, contrived apparatus, hidden mechanisms, and misdirection.

Collins speculates that Bessler's wheel was actually tapping energy from the gravitational field, much as a windmill steals energy from the wind. In this he displays his failure to understand the nature of gravity. He gives this away in his chapter 12 "The secret." He says "Now the force, gravity, is moving in a perpendicular direction downward." Here he is misled by his own analogy of gravity with wind. Gravity does not move as the air in wind moves. Gravitational force does not move. This could be a careless slip, meaning "the force due to gravity is directed downward". But the surrounding context suggests strongly that it was intended, and if so, displays a fundamental misconception about gravity. His subsequent discussion extends this misconception to an apparent misunderstanding of torques, something that ought to embarrass someone who is trained as an engineer. I could cite more examples, but these are typical of this chapter.

Collins suspects that Bessler left his secret encoded in some of his writings. He presents evidence that Bessler did indeed have a fascination with ciphers and codes, but one can't help wondering if pursuing this chimera might lead nowhere, like the infamous "Bible Code" books of Michael Drosnin, which have been thoroughly discredited. Fortunately that speculation occupies only small space in this book.

For someone who wants a thorough review of the facts of this story, this is a good enough read. It presents an episode in 17th and 18th century science that doesn't appear in textbooks, and can't be found in most libraries. But the book does not deliver on the larger claims of its advertising.

The title of this book should read "I Love Orffyreus." After reading this book, and being sorely disappointed with the last chapter, I felt compelled to warn others that this highly subjective book is neither revealing, nor solving. The author offers nothing in the way of physics to make a case for his speculation on gravity, and how it might provide a loophole in the conservation of energy. It reminds me of 17th century patent filers who offered nothing but drawings and thoughts.

This book is one of over a dozen that I have in my library regarding the futile goal of free energy ("perpetual motion"). The first several chapters in this book are an excellent history of Johann Bessler and his fraudulent claims, but the author was not content in merely writing that history; the author suggests the claims of Johann Bessler may have been true, and that if "rediscovered" the mechanism could solve the world's energy problem (which in turn would help advert much of the looming damage caused by human-produced climate change).

Johann Bessler's claims were and are false, and anyone with an education in high school (and above) physics will know why. Gravity is a static force: it is not a source of energy (ditto magnetism). To imply that Bessler may have been legitimate is just asinine and insulting. The truth is that Bessler's behavior matched that of most charlatans and frauds today: pretending outrage and offense at not being believed, and destroying the evidence of his lies and quackery before it could be exposed--- all under the pretense of being "eccentric." (See for example Uri Geller's behavior when caught in his lies.)

Much of the book is worth reading; portions are utter garbage.

This book is awesome!!! The author has spent all of his life researching the history of Johann Bessler, AKA Orffyreus, inventor of a perpetual motion machine about 300 years ago. John Collins, the author, puts forward a convincing argument that the machine was genuine. Watch out you oil barons!!!!

Couldnt put this book down - a brilliant true scientific/historical mystery, on a par with Dan Browns 'The Da Vinci Code'
This book could solve the energy crisis!!

Meticulous research, enjoyable read - I liken this book to the Da Vinci Code, but its real, not fiction.
I believe this author is presently writing a follow-up - can't wait!!

Jimmy, my boyfriend, heard about this book, and asked me to get it for him. I did, and he really enjoyed it. He reckons that its going to replace our gas-guzzling autos. He's serious!