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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Paper, 'Remarks on some attempts made towards a perpetual motion' by Dr [John Theophilus] Desaguliers

Reference number: CLP/3ii/14

Date: 1721

Description

Desaguliers seeks to prove that the perpetual motion wheel at Hesse-Cassel [a state in the Holy Roman Empire] invented by Mr Orfireus [Johann Bessler] is not a self-moving engine. Includes one page of figures.

Subject: Engineering

Published in Philosophical Transactions as 'Remarks on some attempts made towards a perpetual motion'

Read to the Royal Society on 9 November 1721

Reference number
CLP/3ii/14
Earliest possible date
1721
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
5 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

John Theophilus Desaguliers

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Citation

John Theophilus Desaguliers, Paper, 'Remarks on some attempts made towards a perpetual motion' by Dr [John Theophilus] Desaguliers, 1721, CLP/3ii/14, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/clp_3ii_14/paper-remarks-on-some-attempts-made-towards-a-perpetual-motion-by-dr-john-theophilus-desaguliers, accessed on 14 June 2026

Link to this record

https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/clp_3ii_14/paper-remarks-on-some-attempts-made-towards-a-perpetual-motion-by-dr-john-theophilus-desaguliers

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  • Classified Papers

    The 'Classified Papers' of the Royal Society are papers from British and international natural philosophers and scholars categorised according to subject areas.

    Dates: 1592 - 1741

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