Using Science To Check A Legend

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There are many legends associated with Archimedes, who invented several effective weapons of war.  According to historians, during the Roman siege of Syracuse in 212 BC, Archimedes single handedly defended the city by constructing lenses to focus the sun's rays on Roman ships in order to set them on fire.

In 2005, the television programme "Myth Buster" concluded this story was a myth because they were not able to replicate it.  However a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology offered this "death ray legend" to a class, and challenged the students to check to see if Archimedes feat was technically possible.

In October 2005 the students set up 125 square mirror tiles, thirteen meters from a mock-up side of a wooden ship.  Although clouds hindered the experiment, after just ten minutes of clear sky, the ship burst into flames.  "It is flash ignition!" cried the professor.  When the wood caught fire the surface temperature must have been at least 750 degrees F.  The students concluded that Archimedes could have done it.

While the MIT experiment did not prove that Archimedes created an ancient death ray, or that it would have worked on actual ships in real sea conditions, it did give credibility to the ancient legend.

So next time you hear an old story that stretches your credulity, remember that legends are there to be investigated.