Posted by Scott Ellis (216.87.95.64) on December 22, 2001 at 22:30:24:
In Reply to: Two Questions... posted by Christopher on December 21, 2001 at 06:49:40:
Christopher, Thanks for your post.
Question 1:
IMHO, a working Bessler wheel would be a revolutionary development, perhaps the most important event of all time. It would not only commoditize energy, eradicate poverty, and enable a sustainable human impact on the planet, but it would also introduce a new paradigm in physics, undermining the very axiom on which the Laws of Thermodynamics are based. All the textbooks would have to revised.
One might ask then: If the secret is that important, how could Bessler have hidden it? It's important to remember, that in Bessler's day (early 1700's), the importance of the discovery was rated much differently than today. Newton had just recently published Principia, and though most mathematicians agreed that PM was impossible, it was still debated by respectable scientists. At the time, PM was not so revolutionary, it was just one of many possibilities.
While some economic significance was attributed to Bessler's wheel at the time (in tests it was made to lift heavy stamps and to pump water), it was judged then in an completely different mindset than today. The economy was driven almost exclusively by the hard physical labor of humans and animals. Some suggested that the machine was inspired by the devil, since it would put nearly everyone out of work.
Question 2:
I think the smartest thing to do would be to go to the Patent Office. Thier policy is that they don't accept patents for PM machines UNLESS there is a working model. The only danger would be the patent clerk trying to steal the idea, which would be hard to pull off. With a working model, you could get a US patent with all the protection it affords. While the patent is in place, a company could be formed and funded, by the inventor, to produce and distribute Bessler Wheels all over the world.
It is important to remember that there were no meaningful patent laws in place in Bessler's day. That could have played a role in his inability to arrange payment terms for the wheel. He would not reveal the secret until he had the money, and no one would give him the money until they knew the secret.
Best Regards,
Scott
: First...
: I recently read on a website somewhere that if someone were to
: rediscover the secret of the Bessler wheel today it would be
: little more than a curiosity.
: It seems to me that if someone were to build a working,
: demonstratable, proven, insides exposed to the world for
: examination, bonafide Bessler wheel today that it would
: dramatically change the entire world as we know it.
: How important a discovery would this really be?
: Second...
: Hypothetical question. You are working on drawings or CAD or
: whatever you work with and all of a sudden the light comes on.
: Click. You've done it. It overbalances. You don't even have to
: triple check your numbers because it doesn't break any laws of
: nature or theories of the universe to work, you just put two
: sticks together in a way that nobody (except Bessler) has thought
: