Posted by Lloyd Burton (168.209.98.35) on July 27, 2002 at 05:52:16:
The Orffyreus Riddle.
Suggested by Lloyd Burtonon 27th July 2002.
Having read as much as I can find on Internet on the subject of Johann Bessler and his wonderful wheel, I am surprised that no one has drawn attention to the curious correspondence between Bessler’s real name and his assumed name, i.e. Orfyrreus. Have I missed something somewhere?
If one arranges arranges the letters of the alphabet evenly around the circumference of a clock face, as shown in the accompanying drawing, it is immediately apparent that the letter on the opposite side of the clock face to B is O. Likewise E corresponds with R, S with F and so on until we have BESSLER = ORFFYRE, which gives the first seven letters of Orffyreus, the name that Bessler adopted for reasons that have remained heretofore unknown.
B E S S L E R J ?
O R F F Y R E U S H F
If we examine the remaining letter U and S, we find that they yield H and F according to the clock face chart. Now Bessler’s first initial was J, for Johann , and his second is unknown to me but may as well have been F as any other. Does anyone out there know? However, if one manipulates the letters one finds that U + U = W, and W on the clock face brings us back to J.
It is my suspicion that ORFFYREUS is a riddle concealing the principle of operation of his mechanism. This would agree with what is known about his character as a man with an inflated ego. The following points support this opinion:
a) Bessler himself said that he had left various clues that would lead to the discovery of his principle.
b) He said the weights were arranged in pairs and that they influenced each other to act together.
c) Various observers have lent credence to the belief that Bessler used 8 weights. It is well known that ‘about 8’ impacts per revolution were heard on the descending side of the wheel.
d) When started from standing, the wheel accellerated until it had attained its full speed of about 26 r.p.m. at the completion of 2 revolution.
Keeping these points in mind, consider that BESSLER has 7 letters and ORFFYREUS has 9, but 7 + 9 = 16, and 16 is the number of impacts in TWO revolutions. Can it be that it was necessary for the wheel to complete two revolutions before the sequence repeated?
What is needed now is a good cryptographer. I shall be very interested to hear any comments. Communications may be posted to the discussion board, or sent direct to my e-main address : lloydburton||xsinet.co.za