Let It Shine: The 6,000-Year Story of Solar Energy
“Let It Shineis the solar bible. Thank you, John Perlin!”—Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute“John Perlin isthehistorian of solar energy. He now takes the history back thousands of years to early Chinese architecture and theyang-sui, the little bronze mirrors boys used to start the family fire, to nineteenth-century inventors who feared that coal supplies were about to run out, to modern passive solar buildings and today’s falling costs and growing use of photovoltaics. He does all this with a penchant for the diverse characters along the journey and with remarkable illustrations that vividly capture the six-thousand-year story of solar energy.”—Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize–winning author ofThe Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern WorldandThe Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power“With remarkable depth, breadth, and precision, John Perlin lays out humankind’s long reliance on the sun before the carbon era and points the way to a healthy, comfortable, productive, resilient solar-powered world. There is more intelligence and common sense in this volume than in all the federal reports on energy of the last quarter-century combined.”—Denis Hayes, former director of the federal Solar Energy Research Institute and founder of the Earth Day Network“The authoritative background story behind the worldwide solar revolution,Let It Shineis a story of human ingenuity and perseverance told with clarity and depth. The next chapter is ours to write.”—David W. Orr, professor of environmental studies and politics at Oberlin College and author ofDown to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse“Let It Shinemakes it abundantly clear that solar energy has a long and glorious past — a prologue, in fact — that is as bright and diverse as its future will be. Far from being a disruption of the current energy economy, solar power can be harnessed in thousands of ways, making it easy to embrace and integrate into our future, as this book brilliantly demonstrates.”—Daniel M. Kammen, distinguished professor of energy at the University of California, Berkeley“Let It Shineshows how today’s renewable revolution builds on the tenacious efforts of countless generations of innovators whose vision we may finally be privileged enough to bring to full flower.”— from the foreword byAmory Lovins, cofounder and chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain InstitutePraise forA Golden Thread, the previous edition ofLet It Shine:“An absolute must-read.”—Alexis Madrigal, senior editor atThe Atlanticand author ofPowering the Dream“Western man has been using the sun’s rays for useful purposes since the days of ancient Greece, as this comprehensive, carefully researched, clearly written history of solar architecture and technology makes abundantly clear. The illustrations and diagrams that illuminate the text on almost every page are especially fine examples of modern graphic presentations.”—New York Times“It is a humbling book. Handsomely illustrated and lucidly written,A Golden Threadis a rich mine of information.”—Los Angeles Times“The history of mankind’s efforts to use the sun’s energy is a fascinating story, one told in a lively yet scholarly manner here....The triumphs and defeats of solar pioneers help us appreciate what a solar future may yet hold.”—Christian Science Monitor“This book is sorely needed in the solar publication field, for although there are any number of how-to books on solar technology, few if any examine the history of this much-neglected energy source in any depth.”—Denver Post“I just happened to be carryingA Golden Threadin my suitcase at Princeton. On my way home, I devoured it. Richly illustrated and thoroughly documented, it is a feast for the most critical historian’s mind and eye.”—Technology Review