[NormsRevenge]

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor David Wallace, performing an experiment for the Discovery Channels 'Mythbusters,' uses hundreds of mirrored panels to focus sunlight onto a boat in the hope of creating a fire Saturday, Oct. 22, 2005, in San Francisco. According to sparse historical writings, the Greek mathematician Archimedes torched a fleet of invading Roman ships by reflecting the sun's powerful rays with a mirrored device made of glass or bronze. More than 2,000 years later, researchers from MIT and the University of Arizona set out to recreate Archimedes' fabled death ray. Their attempts to set fire to an 80-year-old fishing boat using their own versions of the device, however, failed to either prove or dispel the myth of the solar death ray. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

[NormsRevenge]

Their attempts to set fire to an 80-year-old fishing boat using their own versions of the device, however, failed to either prove or dispel the myth of the solar death ray.

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Film of a bunch of animals and crew members sun bathing and snoozing on the 80-year-old fishing boat during the experiment at 11.

[Southack]

The Roman ships in question had one sail and lots of men rowing. Torching an old sail is easier than torching wood.

Model Length: 24-1/2" (623mm) Scale: 1/30
provided by Hobby World of Montreal

A typical Roman war ship of the first Century B.C. this Bireme was driven by two rows of oars. Out riggers stabilized the ship and the whales protected the hull from the protruding bows of enemy ships. While fast under oar, this type of vessel capsized easily under too much sail. This ship was built with plank on bulkhead construction. 

[Dutch Boy]

All of the mirrors look flat. The mirrors or mounted on a frame that looks concave. That will never focus enough energy in a single spot. The mirror(s) need to be concave. The design needs to be run on simulation until the correct prescription is obtained. A computer model could be created that would account for focal points for each sq mm of the surface of the reflector. If every reflective surface isn't focused at exactly the same spot, there will be a loss of energy. Too much loss and no fire.

[John O]

Someone else has already commented on the lack of curvature of the mirrors being used here (no focal point) so I'll skip on to the next issue.

Atmospheric conditions in San Francisco need to be accounted for as compared to Ancient Greece. Differing levels of water vapor and/or other impurities in the air will affect the transmission rates.