I kept thinking of the golden age of Greek science when Archimedes was one of its founders. Indeed, Archimedes had written an entire book, now lost, on “Catoptrics,” or the science of mirrors reflecting light. The great physician Galen and the illustrious satirist Lucian of the second century of our time, and numerous other Greek intellectuals down to the 12th century reported that Archimedes defended Syracuse with his burning mirrors.ĭespite the reluctance of modern researchers to credit Archimedes for his solar weapon, Archimedes had broken ground in the geometry of conic sections, which led him to his burning mirrors. From 215 to 212 BCE, he defended his country, Syracuse of Sicily, from Roman invaders.Īmong a variety of weapons, Archimedes used his burning mirrors against the Roman ships and turned them to ashes.ĭiodoros of Sicily, a Greek historian writing in the first century BCE, more than a century after the Romans assassinated Archimedes in 212 BCE, reports Archimedes used mirrors and burned the Roman ships at an approximate distance of a bow’s flight. His helmet, shield and body become mirrors reflecting the bright starlight of Sirius.Īrchimedes was the greatest mathematician and engineer of ancient Greece. Diomedes is armed with light, shining like the greatest of the stars, Sirius. In the opening lines of the fifth book of Homer’s Iliad, we read of the Greek hero Diomedes entering battle under the inspiration of goddess Athena. In fact, the moment I saw the mirrors reflecting bright sunrays, I thought of Homer and Archimedes. The science of using mirrors for war and peace is ancient, sophisticated and Greek. I had never seen such a bright white luminescence before. They appeared to me like the glowing eye of the giant Cyclops Polyphemos. As a result, the tops of the towers glow like exploding bombs. It is in charge of a third of the mirrors feeding its head enormous amounts of solar energy. That top is the burning brain of the towers. (Photo: Mojave Air Quality Management District, CA)
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