Archimedes allegedly built a solar death ray to combat the Romans. The Nazis too had plans on the book to build a solar death ray, the Sun-Gun. Now the Nazis were no strangers to cartoon-ish supervillainy, their plans for the Sun-Gun really took the cake. In fifty to one hundred years, the Nazis wanted to build an orbital super weapon that could scorch cities to the ground and boil oceans. The construction of the weapon isn’t impossible, mean that rather than destruction from on high, the sun gun would probably unleash nothing more horrifying. This is because of the distances involved. Using a magnifying glass to fry ants works because the glass is held close, which results in a smaller area of focus and thus enough heat to be deadly