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I keep being amazed by all the purported inventions of Archimedes. And disappointed by the hubris of modern engineers who think that it should only take a handf
by Iv 7y ago
I keep being amazed by all the purported inventions of Archimedes. And disappointed by the hubris of modern engineers who think that it should only take a handful of interns and an afternoon to reproduce what would have been at the time cutting edge military research, with a lot of ingenuity invested in it.
Someone who would invent the anti-naval claws, the sun death rays and a steam cannon would not have just one clever invention in making each work.
The solar death ray requires aiming devices and thousands of people. I find it very interesting that nowadays we can make almost perfect mirrors compared to the maybe 50% reflective bronze shields they would have had but producing a few thousands and making a few thousand people collaborate is something we have a hard time reproduce.
- wincy 7y agoI’m not sure I’d call “forcing a bunch of slaves to hold up mirrors” “collaboration”.
- Iv 7y agoWe don't know much about Syracuse politics, but in that case, it is more likely this was done by soldiers. Syracuse garrison would have been at least a thousand troops and more probably several thousands. While waiting for the ships to land, it sounds like a good idea to try and sync them to try make the ships catch fire.