Posted by Øystein Rustad (217.70.229.49) on July 27, 2002 at 07:23:15:
In Reply to: Besslers wheel riddle posted by Lloyd Burton on July 27, 2002 at 05:52:16:
Hello :
Bessler full name was : Johann Ernest Elias Bessler !
Yes the 13th letter following from Bessler gives Orffyre..
I have also tried to link the number "ridle" to diff. things..
I also believe he incorporated this number philosophy into his Machinen Tractate
Where the drawings are numbered from 1 to 141...
Why 141 drawings...?
I have some suggestions :
His principle can be worked out from putting several of the drawings/principles from MT together.
"All things belongs to 1 of 3 kingdoms"
So the numbers 1 and 3 appears again.
141 can only be devided by 1, 3 (and itself)
So I believe his principle is hided in two or three drawings numbered with numbers that can only can be devided by 1,3 and itself.
For example 3?(warped boards) 9 (unfolding arms) and 21 (arms connected to rim pointing innwards)
Next quote :
"The quality of the elements are neccesary to keep things going"
Euclids work on geometry is named THE ELEMNTS and consists of
13 books.
Where in book nr.1 the lever can be found
and in book nr 3 the principles from MT 9 and 21 can be found...
My thoughs so far....
(I have a crude drawing of the internal lever from an old Bessler-drawing, and it is 100% in line with the one that appears in book nr.1 of the elements)
Øystein
: 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