Bessler's "Inventory after Death..."
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- ken_behrendt
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re: Bessler's "Inventory after Death..."
John...
Thanks for clearing that up. Bessler was an expert at ambiguity and misdirection in my opinion. I'm sure he did not write a single sentence that was not carefully scrutinized before publication to make sure it did not reveal "the" secret. All we seem to know for sure is that it was "simple" and managed to chronically keep the CG of a one-directional wheel's weights offset from the axle. But...somehow, I still believe that he did leave some valid, but carefully hidden, clues somewhere in the literature he published. Of course, how do we know that we now have all of that literature?
My fantasy...
I am abducted by extraterrestrials one night that are conducting research into time travel and have decided to try the process out on a human being.
Using their equipment, I travel back to the 1720's and land in the "machine room" in Weissenstein Castle in the middle of the night.
Before me stands the great wheel resting, for the moment, motionless upon its upright supports. Carefully, I approach it and undo the oiled cloth near the rim of one of its sides.
Then I see the secret mechanism and, by slowly turning the rim of the wheel, I can see its parts slowly shifting about as they move a weight farther from the axle and closer to the rim on what will become the descending side of the wheel if I continue to turn it.
While all of this is going on, I am recording the mechanism's novel motion on the memory chip of a super miniaturized camcorder that is built into the headband mounted light I am wearing. After a few seconds, I have enough data to fully duplicate the mechanism and I then carefully close up the oil cloth covering and press a button that activates the equipment I am carrying so that I can safely return to the 21st century.
My extraterrestrial friends are delighted that I have survived the process and have proven that their gadget works. As a reward, they give me a sack of pure gold discs that they use for currency and I am released along with the secret of Bessler's wheels. With the gold, I am able to hire the best machine shop in the world to make a duplicate of Bessler's two-directional wheel that works perfectly the first time it is tried.
Ahhh...if only fantasies could come true...
ken
Thanks for clearing that up. Bessler was an expert at ambiguity and misdirection in my opinion. I'm sure he did not write a single sentence that was not carefully scrutinized before publication to make sure it did not reveal "the" secret. All we seem to know for sure is that it was "simple" and managed to chronically keep the CG of a one-directional wheel's weights offset from the axle. But...somehow, I still believe that he did leave some valid, but carefully hidden, clues somewhere in the literature he published. Of course, how do we know that we now have all of that literature?
My fantasy...
I am abducted by extraterrestrials one night that are conducting research into time travel and have decided to try the process out on a human being.
Using their equipment, I travel back to the 1720's and land in the "machine room" in Weissenstein Castle in the middle of the night.
Before me stands the great wheel resting, for the moment, motionless upon its upright supports. Carefully, I approach it and undo the oiled cloth near the rim of one of its sides.
Then I see the secret mechanism and, by slowly turning the rim of the wheel, I can see its parts slowly shifting about as they move a weight farther from the axle and closer to the rim on what will become the descending side of the wheel if I continue to turn it.
While all of this is going on, I am recording the mechanism's novel motion on the memory chip of a super miniaturized camcorder that is built into the headband mounted light I am wearing. After a few seconds, I have enough data to fully duplicate the mechanism and I then carefully close up the oil cloth covering and press a button that activates the equipment I am carrying so that I can safely return to the 21st century.
My extraterrestrial friends are delighted that I have survived the process and have proven that their gadget works. As a reward, they give me a sack of pure gold discs that they use for currency and I am released along with the secret of Bessler's wheels. With the gold, I am able to hire the best machine shop in the world to make a duplicate of Bessler's two-directional wheel that works perfectly the first time it is tried.
Ahhh...if only fantasies could come true...
ken
On 7/6/06, I found, in any overbalanced gravity wheel with rotation rate, ω, axle to CG distance d, and CG dip angle φ, the average vertical velocity of its drive weights is downward and given by:
Vaver = -2(√2)πdωcosφ
Vaver = -2(√2)πdωcosφ
re: Bessler's "Inventory after Death..."
Just to clarify a few things...
The transcription/translation posted by Scott at the beginning of this topic was made by Al Bacon & Ted of Chicago, not me. I typed up their translation, which was only supplied as an image file, so that it was easier to refer to. I have since done my own transcription and translation from the original document and I'll make it available soon. There are two more pages of text that are missing from the translation they provided. The two further pages list more documents. The date they gave Scott has nothing to do with the date that this inventory was carried out. It is written on the page that precedes the document and is in Bessler's own handwriting. The date is 23rd May 1737 and is to do with a memorial for someone else. There appears to be no clear date on the inventory document. A page following the inventory which appears to be in the same handwriting as that of the inventory has a date of 16? December 1746. I haven't had a chance to translate that page yet, so I'm not sure if it is related to the inventory. If it is then it would mean the inventory was carried out over a year after Bessler died (that's if the date of death of 30th November 1745 is correct). Anyway, for the moment I can't be sure of the date this inventory was carried out, but it's safe to say it isn't the 23rd May 1737!
The document is entitled:
Extractus Inventary
Des Verstorbenen Commercien Rath Orffyre Verlaßenschafft
Which means:
List of removed items of the deceased commercial councillor Orffyreus' estate.
It lists 41 objects and 11 documents.
Al & Ted's translation appears to be good and tallys on the whole with my own, although item 6 should be a 12 foot quadrant and not 17 foot.
Stewart
The transcription/translation posted by Scott at the beginning of this topic was made by Al Bacon & Ted of Chicago, not me. I typed up their translation, which was only supplied as an image file, so that it was easier to refer to. I have since done my own transcription and translation from the original document and I'll make it available soon. There are two more pages of text that are missing from the translation they provided. The two further pages list more documents. The date they gave Scott has nothing to do with the date that this inventory was carried out. It is written on the page that precedes the document and is in Bessler's own handwriting. The date is 23rd May 1737 and is to do with a memorial for someone else. There appears to be no clear date on the inventory document. A page following the inventory which appears to be in the same handwriting as that of the inventory has a date of 16? December 1746. I haven't had a chance to translate that page yet, so I'm not sure if it is related to the inventory. If it is then it would mean the inventory was carried out over a year after Bessler died (that's if the date of death of 30th November 1745 is correct). Anyway, for the moment I can't be sure of the date this inventory was carried out, but it's safe to say it isn't the 23rd May 1737!
The document is entitled:
Extractus Inventary
Des Verstorbenen Commercien Rath Orffyre Verlaßenschafft
Which means:
List of removed items of the deceased commercial councillor Orffyreus' estate.
It lists 41 objects and 11 documents.
Al & Ted's translation appears to be good and tallys on the whole with my own, although item 6 should be a 12 foot quadrant and not 17 foot.
Stewart
re: Bessler's "Inventory after Death..."
Thanks very much Stewart for clearing up the confusion! I have removed the incorrect date from the post at the beginning of this topic.
-Scott
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- Jon J Hutton
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re: Bessler's "Inventory after Death..."
Can anyone tell me what a nuremberg sphere is.
re: Bessler's "Inventory after Death..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_revolut ... coelestium
Also applies to the Nuremberg political sphere during the war time trials in the latter 1940's
Do a Google for lots more links
Also applies to the Nuremberg political sphere during the war time trials in the latter 1940's
Do a Google for lots more links
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re: Bessler's "Inventory after Death..."
Thanks Ralph
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re: Bessler's "Inventory after Death..."
I have to wonder if the telescopes, brass orbs, quadrants etc. were old family heirlooms handed down in the family going back to a previous ancestor "bessler the astronimer" .
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re: Bessler's "Inventory after Death..."
Doubtful Doc. His father was a 'day-labourer' which meant he was available for hire for any kind of labouring work, usually agricultural. Bessler describes his family as very poor but religious. They were peasants, and I doubt if they owned anything other than the most basic possessions.
John Collins
John Collins
re: Bessler's "Inventory after Death..."
The original text reads as follows:Jon J Hutton wrote:Can anyone tell me what a nuremberg sphere is.
5 - Drei kleine Nürrenberger Globi.
"globi" is the Latin plural of "globus" which means ball/sphere/globe. The correct choice of English word here would be globe, so it says: "Three small Nuremberg Globes".
The city of Nuremberg in Germany was the first major center of globe production in Europe.
Click on this link for some images:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Nuremberg%20globes&btnG=Google+Search&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi
Stewart
DrWhat wrote:"48 iron gears for the water machine"
Does anyone know what this water machine was? And how can we be sure the gears are for this purpose.
The German text says:
32 - 48. Eiserne Räder zur Waßer-Kunst.
Translation:
32 - 48 iron wheels for the waterwork.
'Räder' means wheels, so perhaps they weren't gears. Whoever wrote the inventory could have used the word 'Getriebe' (gears) to be more specific. The word 'Wasserkunst' suggests that the wheels were part of some sort of cascade or fountain etc. However, as you point out, could the writer of the inventory really be sure what they were for - could they have been parts for Bessler's wheel, or left over parts from previous experiments in water related PM machines?
'Wasserkunst' litterally means water-art/craft, but waterwork is give in an old German-English dictionary:
Wasserkunst, f. waterwork, hydraulics, jetteaus.
Stewart
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re: Bessler's "Inventory after Death..."
I recently read where Bessler said his machine would run for seven years before needing repaired, but then he said something unusual afterwards, he said after seven years you could make the repair quickly. That would imo rule out any type of water being used......unless that water was in an airtight sphere/container and the repair he had in mind was to simple add more water. What do you think.
JJH
paraphrased quote from John Collins book.
JJH
paraphrased quote from John Collins book.