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As a kid I read Archimedes devised a "death ray" to use against Roman ships. It was just a huge concave mirror made of highly polished tortoise shells that focused the sun's rays. Any truth about that?
It’s largely seen as a myth. The tale goes, in brief, that Archimedes used oversized mirrors to focus light and ingnite fires aboard Roman vessels. If true, that would be pretty sweet.
As a Greek i can inform you that there is a wrong translation from greek to english. The greek word is ΑΡΠΑΓΗ - that means the one that grabs (female word). BUT in ancient greek that means a tool that goes INTO something (like a peace of meat, or a stone) and then you can move it... That means the Archimides created an arrow thrown by a war machine, enter the ship hull and then could be pulled by the ports cranes!!! Without the Romans could seen anything of the above!!! So simple man...
Here's the entire english translation of the passages from Plutarch From Plutarch (Greek, c. 45-120 AD) Parallel Lives: Marcellus -- "When Archimedes began to ply his engines, he at once shot against the land forces all sorts of missile weapons, and immense masses of stone that came down with incredible noise and violence; against which no man could stand; for they knocked down those upon whom they fell in heaps, breaking all their ranks and files. In the meantime huge poles thrust out from the walls over the ships sunk some by the great weights which they let down from on high upon them; others they lifted up into the air by an iron hand or beak like a crane's beak and, when they had drawn them up by the prow, and set them on end upon the poop, they plunged them to the bottom of the sea, . . . with great destruction of the soldiers that were aboard them. A ship was frequently lifted up to a great height in the air (a dreadful thing to behold), and was rolled to and fro, and kept swinging, until the mariners were all thrown out, when at length it was dashed against the rocks, or let fall. Marcellus, doubtful what counsel to pursue, drew off his ships to a safer distance, and sounded a retreat to his forces on land. They then took a resolution of coming up under the walls, if it were possible, in the night . . . instantly a shower of darts and other missile weapons was again cast upon them. And when stones came tumbling down perpendicularly upon their heads, and, as it were, the whole wall shot out arrows at them, they retired. And now, again, as they were going off, arrows and darts of a longer range inflicted a great slaughter among them, and their ships were driven one against another; while they themselves were not able to retaliate in any way. For Archimedes had provided and fixed most of his engines immediately under the wall; whence the Romans, seeing that indefinite mischief overwhelmed them from no visible means, began to think they were fighting with the gods." "Such terror had seized upon the Romans, that, if they did but see a little rope or a piece of wood from the wall, instantly crying out, that there it was again, Archimedes was about to let fly some engine at them, they turned their backs and fled, Marcellus desisted from conflicts and assaults, putting all his hope in a long siege." I'm taking true as mechanically reasonable and reasonably consistent with Plutarch overall. A quinquireme of the time was very approximately 100 (one hundred) tons fully laden. The largest lift available conventionally was an inclined plane and A frame: 10 (ten) tons. There fore the claw or grabber was not a crane or lift. You say that the grabber itself must have been shot like an arrow. From a balista, monte in in ir just behind the sea wall? Could it have been flipped by a 1/4 drawn onager with the "spoon" attached to a 20' long chain or rope with the grabber on the end? or advanced along the surface of the sea like a boom with cork floats? Even if your grabber was only 2 tons it could not help but over strain the beam- tip. And for sure no two ton weight could possibly sink a 100 ton vessel if the poles were not there to drop the claw from why include them in the account? The grabber like a cranes bill says Plutarch: so broad at the base narrow at the tip and in two parts upper and lower? the best place to grab a vessel, of the time was by the ram (or the prow as plutarch says). The ram is built in to the keel in such away as to allow multiple rammings and multiple withdrawal of the ram so if any part the ship could suspend 100 tons in mid air it would be the ram. The very longest beam would be the tree from which the keel was composed 15m plus height to trunk tip maybe 20 metres in total. Now there's a problem how do you interpret the words Swing -as in forward and back only or might it include up and down? bobbing as it were if once you've grabbed your ship you can employ according to another source use most of the population in operating the claw" then there is a ways to explain Pluarchs account. But it all depends on the inter-pretation of the word "swing" so if you would be so kind as to provide such an interpretation that would be great my apologies, that took much longer to explain than I thought it would
My God that would be crazy to see a crane as a top secret cutting edge weapon
I've followed your channel for a while now, the content is always Interesting and informative. Hope you achieve the level of subscriptions your channel deserves.
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Full support. 😉
Archimedes Was a mathematical Scientist Genius !!!
and murderer
As a kid I read Archimedes devised a "death ray" to use against Roman ships. It was just a huge concave mirror made of highly polished tortoise shells that focused the sun's rays.
Any truth about that?
It’s largely seen as a myth. The tale goes, in brief, that Archimedes used oversized mirrors to focus light and ingnite fires aboard Roman vessels. If true, that would be pretty sweet.
@@TiptonBros The book that was my source claimed the Romans invaded on a cloudy day LOL!
@@russkinter3000 Quality source 😂. Appreciate the comment.
As a Greek i can inform you that there is a wrong translation from greek to english. The greek word is ΑΡΠΑΓΗ - that means the one that grabs (female word). BUT in ancient greek that means a tool that goes INTO something (like a peace of meat, or a stone) and then you can move it... That means the Archimides created an arrow thrown by a war machine, enter the ship hull and then could be pulled by the ports cranes!!! Without the Romans could seen anything of the above!!! So simple man...
Here's the entire english translation of the passages from Plutarch
From Plutarch (Greek, c. 45-120 AD) Parallel Lives: Marcellus --
"When Archimedes began to ply his engines, he at once shot against the land forces all sorts of missile weapons, and immense masses of stone that came down with incredible noise and violence; against which no man could stand; for they knocked down those
upon whom they fell in heaps, breaking all their ranks and files. In the meantime huge poles thrust out from the walls over the ships sunk some by the great weights which they let down from on high upon them; others they lifted up into the air by an iron hand or beak
like a crane's beak and, when they had drawn them up by the prow, and set them on
end upon the poop, they plunged them to the bottom of the sea, . . . with great destruction of the soldiers that were aboard them. A ship was frequently lifted up to a great height in the air (a dreadful thing to behold), and was rolled to and fro, and kept swinging, until the mariners were all thrown out, when at length it was dashed against the rocks, or let fall. Marcellus, doubtful what counsel to pursue, drew off his ships to a safer distance, and sounded a retreat to his forces on land. They then took a resolution of coming up under the walls, if it were possible, in the night . . . instantly a shower of darts and other missile weapons was again cast upon them. And when stones came tumbling down perpendicularly upon their heads, and, as it were, the whole wall shot out arrows at them, they retired. And now, again, as they were going off, arrows and darts of a longer range inflicted a great slaughter among them, and their ships were driven one against another; while they themselves were not able to retaliate in any way. For Archimedes had provided and fixed most of his engines immediately under the wall; whence the Romans, seeing that indefinite mischief overwhelmed them from no visible means, began to think they were fighting with the gods."
"Such terror had seized upon the Romans, that, if they did but see a little rope or a piece of wood from the wall, instantly crying out, that there it was again, Archimedes was about to let fly some engine at them, they turned their backs and fled, Marcellus desisted from conflicts and assaults, putting all his hope in a long siege."
I'm taking true as mechanically reasonable and reasonably consistent with Plutarch overall.
A quinquireme of the time was very approximately 100 (one hundred) tons fully laden. The largest lift available conventionally was an inclined plane and A frame: 10 (ten) tons. There fore the claw or grabber was not a crane or lift.
You say that the grabber itself must have been shot like an arrow. From a balista, monte in in ir just behind the sea wall? Could it have been flipped by a 1/4 drawn onager with the "spoon" attached to a 20' long chain or rope with the grabber on the end? or advanced along the surface of the sea like a boom with cork floats? Even if your grabber was only 2 tons it could not help but over strain the beam- tip. And for sure no two ton weight could possibly sink a 100 ton vessel
if the poles were not there to drop the claw from why include them in the account?
The grabber like a cranes bill says Plutarch: so broad at the base narrow at the tip and in two parts upper and lower?
the best place to grab a vessel, of the time was by the ram (or the prow as plutarch says). The ram is built in to the keel in such away as to allow multiple rammings and multiple withdrawal of the ram so if any part the ship could suspend 100 tons in mid air it would be the ram.
The very longest beam would be the tree from which the keel was composed 15m plus height to trunk tip maybe 20 metres in total.
Now there's a problem how do you interpret the words
Swing -as in forward and back only or might it include up and down? bobbing as it were
if once you've grabbed your ship you can employ according to another source use most of the population in operating the claw" then there is a ways to explain Pluarchs account.
But it all depends on the inter-pretation of the word "swing"
so if you would be so kind as to provide such an interpretation that would be great
my apologies, that took much longer to explain than I thought it would