Archimedes “Burning Mirrors” and London’s “Walkie Scorchie”

burningmirrorOne of the great stories from ancient history is of Archimedes setting fire to Roman ships during the Siege of Syracuse, 214–212 BC, by using “burning mirrors”, mirrors that focused the rays of the sun and generated enough heat to set the attacking ships on fire.  There is considerable debate to this day whether the “burning mirrors” were possible or simply historical folklore. Archimedes “burning mirrors” came to my mind recently when reading about an office tower under construction in London which has been accidentally melting cars, frying eggs and starting fires in a manner that sounds remarkably like Archimedes “burning mirror” death ray.

The skyscraper under construction was originally nicknamed, the “Walkie Talkie,” because some thought that its distinctive shape made it look like a handheld radio.  Soon, however, the skyscraper earned a variety of new nicknames, the “Walkie Scorchie,” “death ray” and the “fryscraper.”  It seems that the building’s south-facing concave glass facade focuses and concentrates the sun’s rays on the buildings and street below.  The rays are so intense and hot that they have reportedly burned carpet,  melted furniture, and started woodwork smoking in ground floor stores across the street. Cars parked on the block have also been seriously damaged. Pedestrians have had to flee the burning rays and intrepid newspaper reporters have literally fried eggs on the sidewalk.

As reported by the IndependentMartin Lindsay, director of a tiling company, left his Jaguar XJ for one hour opposite the building, and returned to find warped panels along its side, accompanied by a smell of burning plastic…Eddie Cannon, a heating and air conditioning engineer, said his Vauxhall Vevaro had suffered similar damage:  “The van looks a total mess – every bit of plastic on the left hand side and everything on the dashboard has melted, including a bottle of Lucozade that looks like it has been baked.”

The problem is apparently not unique to the “Walkie Scorchie.”  The Telegraph reports that another building designed by the same architect has had similar problems. ‘Three years ago, residents at the Vdara hotel in Las Vegas – also designed by the Rafael Viñoly architectural practice that is behind the Walkie Talkie – complained of being “scorched” by the rays hitting the swimming pool area. The rays were melting their plastic drinking cups, guests claimed.’   A building in Texas had similar problems: In Dallas, the Museum Tower, a 42-storey block of apartments, reflected so much light into the neighbouring Nasher Sculpture Center that it threatened artworks in the gallery, scorched plants and caused a two-year dispute between the two parties.

So do the “burning mirrors” on these buildings prove that Archimedes “burning mirrors” could have set a Roman fleet ablaze?  Not necessarily, but perhaps we should be less quick to dismiss the story out of hand.

Attempts to recreate Archimedes weapon have been mixed.  In 1973, a Greek engineer assembled 70 soldiers, each holding a 5-feet by 3-feet mirror. The concentrated beam reflected by the mirrors set a row boat 160 feet offshore aflame.  Likewise, in 2005, a group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) used 127 one-foot square flat mirrors arranged in a parabola to set fire to a 10-foot long, one-inch thick red oak version of a Roman ship. On the other hand, the Discovery Channel program Mythbusters tried and failed three times to replicate the “burning mirrors.”  (Their failure may say more about the TV program than Archimedes.)  On the other hand, see the Youtube video by GreenPowerScience.com, below, which used simple parabolic mirrors to set a model ship on fire from 100 feet away.  Archimedes was one of the greatest mathematicians of his time and developed, among other things, equations for calculating the characteristics of parabolas, so Archimedes was well aware of using parabolic mirrors to focus light.

Whether or not Archimedes “burning mirrors” were ever used against the Romans, they could not have been an overly practical weapon, as they required the attacking fleet to attack only around mid-day.  The mirrors would be of little use for night time, dawn, dusk or for rainy-day battles. On the other hand, if the mirrors were ever used successfully, one can only imagine the panic that must have ensued as a ship caught fire when targeted by a blinding light from shore.  A death ray, indeed.

Burning Mirrors: Could Archimedes’ Death Ray Work?

Archimedes has often been described as a “mad genius.”  He is also the father of naval architecture.  Whenever we refer to the displacement tonnage of a ship, we are quoting Archimedes Principle which states that the weight of a floating object is equal to the weight of water that it displaces.

Archimedes Death Ray Solar Parabolic Mirror burns a fake Roman Ship

See also:

Walkie Scorchie: London’s car-frying skyscraper

Comments

Archimedes “Burning Mirrors” and London’s “Walkie Scorchie” — 6 Comments

  1. love your blog/newsletter …. however, the videos you embed do NOT transmit through my HTML email … and I do not see a simple link …
    could you include a link for the video …. ? and also maybe several links back to your blog page, as I see you post everything here!
    Like the theme!

  2. No problem my end with the video and other links included in the daily Old Salt Blog emailed notices.

  3. The reason why Archimedes’ sunray weapon was not used in naval warfare after Syracuse is that the navies employed weapons engineers and naval architects instead of ordinary modern architects. The failure of the Discovery Channel to replicate Archimedes’ burning mirrors is probably that it also did not use an architect as a consultant.

    Most modern architects create their designs in abstracto, with no attention paid to environmental aspects. Many office blocks with south-facing glass façades cook the office workers within, while others incur inordinate heating costs in winter. The Centre Pompidou cultural centre in Paris, designed in the style of high-tech architecture, has both major air-conditioning and heating cost issues. It looks like a chemical plant of some sort. It would not be out of place in an oil refinery complex, but in the heart of historic Paris and in view from the Notre-Dame esplanade, it is an environmental eyesore. Also in Paris, the sun was baking and discolouring the books in the new multi-story National Library and the books have had to be stored in basements and have to be brought up on demand by library users wishing to consult them. High-rise towers can also transform ordinary moderate prevailing wind conditions in roaring gales. There was such structure near where I lived in Montreal, and it was necessary to hold on to hats and close umbrellas before venturing in some of the nearby streets. There was a modern high-rise office development complex in London that visually blighted St-Paul’ cathedral by its proximity. The wind conditions it created were such that it was eventually decided to pull it down. I knew the widow of the architect who had designed that windy block. She was circulating a petition to save it. I refused to sign it.

    I did not know that the architect who designed London’s Walkie Scorchie had designed another building with similar properties. Whichever was built first should have been a lesson. I could go on and on about architectural SNAFUs.

    Land architects should have been employed as consultants by the modern military who have been spending fortunes designing lasers as satellite-born weapons. It would seem that a satellite with big swivelling mirrors would be a cheaper option with the same or even better power…

  4. Concentrated Solar Power CSP: Fields of linked parabolic mirrors,
    are all aimed at a central focusing point. The system boils water, makes steam, and electricty trhough the Rankine Cycle. Burning a ship, it’s
    possible. However, the ship would have to be on top of the systems solar furnace.