![]() ![]() We're just saying it's extremely impractical as a weapon of war," he said. For by tilting a kind of mirror toward the sun he concentrated the sun's beam upon it and owing to the thickness and smoothness of the mirror he ignited the air from this beam and kindled a great flame, the whole of which he directed upon the ships that lay at anchor in the path of the fire, until he consumed them all."īut Peter Rees, executive producer of MythBusters, the Discovery channel programme that set up the test, said the re-enactment showed the death ray was probably a myth. In Epitome ton Istorion, circa AD12, John Zonaras wrote: "At last in an incredible manner he burned up the whole Roman fleet. Archimedes set similar small mirrors with four edges, moving by links and a kind of hinge. I wouldn't want to underestimate his intelligence or ability."Īn attempt by the Arizona scientists using a giant mirror shaped like flower petals to direct the sun's rays was also a flop, failing to produce any smoke or flames.Īccording to ancient writings, the spectacle was far more impressive when Archimedes, who had already pounded the Roman fleet with catapults, turned his death ray on the invaders. "He's one of the great mathematical minds in history. "Who can say whether Archimedes did it or not?" he said. The experiment showed it may be technically possible, but did not answer whether Archimedes used it to destroy enemy ships, said Professor David Wallace, an engineer at MIT. The focused beam of sunlight lit a small fire, but it soon fizzled out. After seeing a little smouldering, but nothing else, the team had a second go, this time with the boat only half the distance away. On Saturday, researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Arizona set off for San Francisco bay to test if Archimedes' death ray could have been anything but a myth.įor their first attempt, the MIT team assembled a 300-square-metre bronze and glass reflector on the edge of the bay and tried to set fire to an old fishing boat bobbing in the water 45 metres (150ft) away. ![]()
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