i got the idea from a hamster wheel, if you connect a small generator to it with a gear box and replace the hamster with a motor and a battery. then make sure the generator will be able to power the motor and it hooked up to the motor while by-passing the battery so when the battery dies it will still go
Unfortunately, even if there was a 100% effecient generator and 100% efficient motor which could perpetually rotate a hamster wheel like this, the same principles apply. You would not be able to get any power from it, as that would remove energy from the system, which would cause the hamster wheel to stop spinning.
So this chap in the book was right that this should violate our current understanding of perpetual motion - albeit theoretically.
Well, "perpetual motion" interpreted word-for-word (as in an object constantly in motion) is possible, although without any practical value in "free energy". For example, if you throw an object into a frictionless, gravityless space, it will continue in motion unless stopped. There is nothing unusual about this.
The idea that you could somehow draw energy from an object's perpetual motion or orbit is invalid. The misconception comes from the assumption that there is always friction present on a moving object. If this was the case, objects which can move perpetually (or near-perpetually) must have some misterious force propelling it along it's path, right? Wrong.
When I think of "perpetual motion", I instead think of some sort of device drawing energy from some unknown infinite (or near-infinite) energy source, providing a perpetual motion which can be harnessed to provide power for all needs.