Legends about the ingenuity of Greek inventor and mathematician Archimedes have persisted for centuries, with one of the most famous tales suggesting he used mirrors to set Roman ships alight over 2,000 years ago. A Canadian middle school student recently conducted a science fair project to test the feasibility of this ancient feat.
The student designed a miniature version of the so-called 'death ray,' a device attributed to Archimedes during the siege of Syracuse between 214 and 212 BCE. The project involved heat lamps and mirrors to mimic the setup described in historical accounts.
