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Doubt cast on Archimedes' killer mirrors

A re-enactment of the ancient siege of Syracuse suggests that Archimedes, the Greek mathematician, was better at working out why boats float than dreaming up weapons of war to make them sink.

According to sketchy historical accounts, Archimedes torched a fleet of invading Roman ships by harnessing the power of the sun as they sought to capture the Sicilian city in 213 BC. Using large mirrors made of bronze or glass, the mathematician and military adviser to king Hiero focused the sun's rays on the ships and, according to ancient writings, reduced them to cinders.

Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Arizona recently set off for San Francisco bay to test if Archimedes' death ray could have been anything but a myth.

For 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 (150 ft) away. After seeing a little smouldering, but nothing else, the team had a second go, this time with the boat only half the distance away. The focused beam of sunlight lit a small fire, but it soon fizzled out.

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. "Who can say whether Archimedes did it or not?" he said. "He's one of the great mathematical minds in history. I wouldn't want to underestimate his intelligence or ability."

An 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.

According 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.

In Epitome ton Istorion, John Zonaras wrote: "At last, in an incredible manner, he burned up the whole Roman fleet. For, by tilting a kind of mirror towards 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."

But 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. "We're not saying it can't be done. We're just saying it's extremely impractical as a weapon of war," he said.

- The Guardian

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