[Rockhounds] Inca Indians Used Solar Power To Cut Rocks

[pmodreski at aol.com]

Yes, I was going to write back about this too.? I remember seeing this on Nova also.? I think it is really really really unlikely that the Incas could have done this.? As I wrote to a friend about this just now, "if it was that easy, they'd all be doing it".



I do know there are stories about the Greeks (Archimedes??) using light from a row of polished?metal mirrors?as a weapon, to set enemy ships on fire; I haven't checked to see how far this is toward fact and not legend.

Pete

-----Original Message-----
From: DonH <donhalterman at verizon.net>
To: gbrown at catspaw-minerals.com; Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors <rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
Sent: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 8:53 am
Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] Inca Indians Used Solar Power To Cut Rocks



Gary Brown wrote:?
> Did some research... 1990 article. They tried to replicate it on a PBS?
> Nova show, but couldn't. Only 2 pages of Google links on a search for "Ivan?
> Watkins" and "Inca". There's no "Ivan Watkins" at St. Cloud State as of?
> 2007.?
?
Indeed... A simple recall of high school mathematics will remind us that parabolas focus incoming rays at a point. Conversely, rays emanating from the focal point will be reflected in parallel. Satellite dishes are not parabolas, they are offset parabolic sections. If the Incas had such a technology, they would have been clearing forests, reshaping the landscape, and most likely, laying waste to enemies. The use of such tools would have been legendary and would have certainly been noted by the Spaniards.?
?
This goes to show that someone can have a PhD and still be an idiot.?
?
Don?
?
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