Topic: Ancient Archimedes' Death Ray worked!

[Dracho]

Don't forget the storm that wrecked the Spanish Armada.  That was a turning point in world history.

[J. Carney]

Ancient man doesn't mean primative man.

If a bunch of hung-over students at a college can jump into action and create something that works this well on short notice... well, I wonder what Archimedes could have done with custom-built material and plenty of time and backing.


Death Merchant:

Roman ships MOST CERTIANLY had sails (usually one per ship, large and square), and they were made of highly flamible materials. They were also, as Dracho has already said, waterproofed with HIGHLY flammable materials like pitch and tar.

Anything that would set a ship afire was a danger that would drive the crew to distraction... remember, little clay pots of greek fire hurrled by men at close quarters were considered dangerous.

[Nemesis]

What makes you think the show doesn't hire engineering consultants?

I've only seen a few episodes and in one of them they did bring in an outside consultant (killed by thrown card episode - concluded it was an urban legend).  That episode they made a big thing over having consulted with him so I would assume that normally they would refer to those consultants as being the source of the various suggestions as they did in that episode.  The other episodes that I saw they always referred to the various ideas tested as being suggested by one or another of the 4 regulars.  That is why (pending further evidence) I am assuming that most of the ideas for how to test are from those four people.  Yes it is possible that they are just "front men" for a think tank of some sort that is paid to be anonymous.

[Nemesis]

BTW: I seriously doubt this story
1) As stated in the article, such a success would have been like a nuke in the ancient world. And no one replicates it ever again??
2) Think of the exposure time required to ignite. Now add in the obvious countermeasure: One guy on the boat with a bucket of water.....

If I were on an attacking fleet, poised to assault Archimedes and his weapon, I might indeed pause....
If only to wipe the tears of laughter from my eyes....

1/ The science of optics had not yet been discovered (unless Archimedes was the discoverer and it was lost with him).  How and why it worked (if it actually did) would be incomprehensible to others without that basic knowledge.  Archimedes was killed in that war.

2/ Assume that it worked.  As emperor of Rome which would you rather do:
  a/ keep it knowing spies would duplicate it and use it against you
or
  b/ destroy it and try to suppress knowledge of it?

Rome was the mightiest empire of its time they had no need of the "death ray" and much to fear from it if it became widespread. 

As an example of the Empire suppressing things.  Rome  (the city) had a fire department.  Other cities wanted to form them but were forbidden.  The fire department in Rome being a para military organization had been involved in various plots and potential rebellions.  The last thing the Emperors wanted was more such organizations out in the provinces with Little or no supervision to keep them in line.

There is also a legend of an inventor bringing to the Emperor the secret of "unbreakable glass" he wanted an Imperial Monopoly and was willing to share half the profits with the Emperor.  Immediately upon being told that the secret was currently limited to the inventor and no one else the Emperor had him executed.  Unbreakable glass would have thrown thousands out of work and the Empire couldn't afford the resulting unrest.   Is this legend true?  Likely not.  But it does illustrate the principle that stability and security of the empire was more important than any secret weapon.

[Dracho]

The Roman commander that sacked Syracuse was given explicit orders to bring Archemedes back to Rome alive.  According to legend, a legionaire unknowingly slashed him to death as he was drawing in the sand.

[Death_Merchant]

Bottom Line Gents: It's cool to think this is true, but there is no solid proof.

I choose to doubt unless proven true.

As to outside, unreferenced consultants having been used: I've said all I will. Believe or don't

"Reality TV" is far from it.
Take the Osbournes for example. This is how an episode is constructed:
1) The show uses interns to examine hours of raw footage, recording time of day, room of house, participants, basic conversation
2) Show writers brainstorm plot ideas
3) Video clips are pulled to splice together "What happened"

So, a given aired conversation may really be comprised of things that happened Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday.
BTW: It's quite sad how much footage must be viewed to find Ozzy saying something coherent.

Real bottom line: These shows are entertainment, nothing more.