Many believe that solar energy is a late twentieth-century phenomenon. Let It Shine: The 6000 Year-Story of Solar Energy will change this misconception. Let It Shine shows, for example, that six thousand years ago the stone-age Chinese built their homes so every one of them made maximum use of the sun

Charles Pope explains that he wrote his book Solar Heat, published in 1903, because “some call to the people is needed … to arouse interest … [in] ‘catching the sunbeams’ and extracting gold from them.” To accomplish his goal, he tells his readers, he has endeavored “to trace the history of attempts and successes in … Continue reading Let It Shine: The 6,000-Year Story of Solar Energy, By John Perlin →

The Chinese got it. So did the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Long before the advent of modern photovoltaics and solar grids, these forward thinkers were finding ways to harness the sun’s energy — present in infinite supply — and use it to heat their homes and baths, and even to cook their food. In his … Continue reading New Book by John Perlin Explores the History of Solar Energy →