Golden Thread

This book provides a historical overview of the development of solar architecture and technology, and to describe the process of discovery and the popularization of these applications. The emphasis is on the West but with attention paid to historical developments in China and Japan. The technological developments are always discussed within the economic, political, social and cultural milieux of each period making this a comprehensive yet accessible history.

With meticulous documentation including numerous archaeological line drawings and historical photos this book argues that the current energy "crisis" is nothing new, and explains how earlier societies tried to cope. Chapters are devoted to solar architectural in ancient Greece and Rome and their use of curved mirrors, later dreams of"solar weaponry" of the 15th an 16th centuries, the development of horticultural conservatories in the 18th and 19th centuries made possible by other technological advances in glass and iron construction and attempts to construct solar 'machines" during the same period and the success of such innovators as Muochot in developing and applying solar energy in France.