An undergraduate laboratory experiment on measuring the velocity of   light with a catastrophic machine
  An experimental setup for electrostatic measurement of $\varepsilon_0$, separated magneto-static measurement of $\mu_0$ and determination of the velocity of light $c=1/\sqrt{\varepsilon_0 \mu_0}$ according to Maxwell theory with percent accuracy is described. No forces are measured with the experimental setup therefore there is no need of a scale and the experiment price less than \pounds20 is mainly due to the batteries used. Multiplied 137~times, this experimental setup was given at the fourth open international Experimental Physics Olympiad (EPO4) and a dozen high school students did very well. This article, however, focuses on the catastrophe theory, which is the basis of the methodology. 
T. M. Mishonov, A. M. Varonov, D. D. Maskimovski, S. G. Manolev, V. N.   Gourev, and V. G. Yordanov
physics.ed-ph