A UW-Madison professor emeritus will be featured on Wednesday’s NOVA episode as an international expert on the techno-archaeology of chariots.
According to a university press release, experts on the 8 p.m. NOVA episode, “Building Pharaoh’s Chariot,” tested exact replicas of royal chariots that would have been used by ancient Egyptian royalty.
Bela Sandor, professor emeritus of engineering mechanics, is an expert on fracture, stress and strain in materials and was the only technical expert on the team.
He became interested in chariots in particular after noticing an inexplicable crack in a chariot wheel used by King Tutankhamun, and began to research the complex level of engineering involved in chariots.
In the press release, Sandor said chariots, both lightweight and strong, are an engineering marvel.
“It turns out that a single wheel is infinitely more complex than a pyramid,” he said in the release.
