Even as concern over climate change and energy security fuel a boom in solar technology; many still think of solar as a twentieth-century wonder. Few realize that the first photovoltaic array appeared on a New York City rooftop in 1884; or that brilliant engineers in France were using solar power in the 1860s to run steam engines; or that in 1901 an ostrich farmer in Southern California used a single solar engine to irrigate three hundred acres of citrus trees. Fewer still know that Leonardo da Vinci planned to make his fortune by building half-mile-long mirrors to heat water; or that the Bronze Age Chinese used hand-sized solar-concentrating mirrors to light fires the way we use matches and lighters today.With thirteen new chapters; Let It Shine is a fully revised and expanded edition of A Golden Thread; Perlin’s classic history of solar technology; detailing the past forty years of technological developments driving today’s solar renaissance. This unique and compelling compendium of humankind’s solar ideas tells the fascinating story of how our predecessors throughout time; again and again; have applied the sun to better their lives — and how we can too.
#111063 in Books Pegasus Books 2016-03-07Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.30 x 1.60 x 6.50l; .0 #File Name: 1605989665464 pagesPegasus Books
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. This is a highly readable book about the history of ...By PennyThis is a highly readable book about the history of the Medici family beginning with founding father Cosimo through the last Medici Gian Gastone.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Well Researched - Advanced ReadBy JenniferI bought this for my grandma to read and she likes it but it is incredibly heavy. I would say that it is an advanced read. The facts are awesome and you got lots of information. It is incredibly well researched.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. IlluminatingBy LuvKungFuMoviesEasy to read and in formative. Extrapolates to today's climate. Begs the question; have we really evolved significantly from those times?
