tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5033865397341905972.post5591698140594702363..comments2024-03-26T09:35:47.151+00:00Comments on No PC Views: Myth Busters BustedNo PChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17824446252611654550noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5033865397341905972.post-56289151316733924152014-02-21T18:45:10.811+00:002014-02-21T18:45:10.811+00:00Personally I am convinced that by some method Arch...Personally I am convinced that by some method Archimedes managed to burn Roman warships (probably the sails), by use of mirrored concentrated heat .... the fact that TV presenters haven't managed it is just that they are just that.No PChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17824446252611654550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5033865397341905972.post-52172388187750428972014-02-20T23:13:04.858+00:002014-02-20T23:13:04.858+00:00The TV show, 'The Reinventors' demonstrate...The TV show, 'The Reinventors' demonstrated a full cremation - well scaled down using Archimedes mirrors ... It worked.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5033865397341905972.post-45841685819240147002014-02-01T23:37:23.663+00:002014-02-01T23:37:23.663+00:00Vroomfondel - all the relevant episodes are on the...Vroomfondel - all the relevant episodes are on the You Tube links in the article including both the 'Mythbusters' and the 'What the Ancients Did For Us' episodes: ... you ought to know me better! I wouldn't discuss this sort of thing without providing the evidence on the post.No PChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17824446252611654550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5033865397341905972.post-80238514342344230752014-02-01T19:54:21.769+00:002014-02-01T19:54:21.769+00:00I take your word for that particular episode as I ...I take your word for that particular episode as I haven't seen it. Of the episodes that I have seen, although, as stated, the Mythbusters are not terribly inventive (that's not their job), they are diligent and they make great efforts to faithfully recreate the original conditions of the event being tested. That's not counting the times that they descend into self-indulgent pyrotechnics.Vroomfondelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15502448843409791872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5033865397341905972.post-34965206164358685092014-02-01T17:41:12.777+00:002014-02-01T17:41:12.777+00:00Not arguing that they don't try, but rather bu...Not arguing that they don't try, but rather but that they don't try very inventively .... the 2nd century AD author Lucian was the first to describe the weapon, a whole 400 yrs after the Siege of Syracuse (c. 214–212 BC), and therefore the description <i>(even if based upon contemporary sources available to him but lost to us)</i>, are his non scientific interpretation of the reports from Roman sailors at the time. <br /><br />The clips in the post all meet the basic requirement of polished metal, arranged in some manner that focuses all the reflected light on one spot in such away as to induce a flame to ignite. The Adam-Hart Davies effort above was also an attempt to interpret the historical data correctly and recreate the event as described, and was fairly successful. The other attempts were more experimental, but again worked to some degree or other ... Archimedes would have experimented with his weapon to get the wanted result, and therefore is likely to have had some sort of working model of his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes#Heat_ray" rel="nofollow">'Heat Ray'</a> when the Romans arrived.<br /><br />As for what they had available at the time, well all they needed was some highly polished metal, arranged in a manner that could be adjusted to create one point of focus ... given what we know the Romans and Greeks had already achieved with everything from heavy and military engineering to fine tools (including the earliest computing devices e.g. the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism" rel="nofollow">'Antikythera' mechanism</a>), they were more than capable of making anything shown in the film clips ... and perhaps more importantly using it correctly to set fire to the dry sails, and not the wet wood of Triremes.<br /><br />So to my mind, the <i>Mythbusters</i> attempt was a failure because their initial model was poor. No PChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17824446252611654550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5033865397341905972.post-82995246512371923302014-02-01T16:48:31.765+00:002014-02-01T16:48:31.765+00:00The Mythbusters are scientific in their approach a...The Mythbusters are scientific in their approach and their remit was, correct me if I'm wrong, to test whether the task was acheivable using the historical specifications. We could credit people throughout the ages with the ability to generate electricity or fly, the question is : did they actually do it with the knowledge and materials available to them at the time?Vroomfondelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15502448843409791872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5033865397341905972.post-35458621005443931592014-02-01T11:23:55.602+00:002014-02-01T11:23:55.602+00:00Yup! Thanks for the comment.Yup! Thanks for the comment.No PChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17824446252611654550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5033865397341905972.post-40636004709259381092014-01-31T22:33:59.682+00:002014-01-31T22:33:59.682+00:00I saw that show and your right 'geniuses they ...I saw that show and your right 'geniuses they ain't'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com