 The ancient Greek / Latin term "heliocaminus" literally means "solar furnace" and refers to a glass-enclosed sunroom intentionally designed to become hotter than the outside air temperature.During the Second Punic War (218–202 BC), the Greek scientist Archimedes is said to have repelled the attacking Roman ships by setting them on fire with a "burning glass" that may have been an array of mirrors.An experiment to test this theory was carried out by a group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005.