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Rating: 
Summary: Very enlightening book---no pun intended
Review: Because I live a block or so from Frank Shuman's inventor's compound in the Tacony community of Philadelphia, and due to my involvement in the local Historical Society, I was compelled to get this book. I read it in its entirety during last week's vacation and I was very impressed. It turned out that the localized focus on Shuman was but a bonus compared to the knowledge I've gained about the history of solar energy development in world history. Not only am I now more astute when it comes to this topic, but I've gained a new perspective on the local legend of Frank Shuman and his place in the evolution of solar power as a legitimate energy source. Mr. Kryza is to be commended for taking a scientific topic and making it interesting to someone like myself.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating foray into 19th century solar technology
Review: This book tells an amazing story -- that of solar powered steam engines, great BIG ones -- on the banks of the Nile in Egypt before the First World War. Who would have thunk it? The writing is gripping and reads like an Indiana Jones adventure yarn -- this isn't a textbook. And yet, though told like a story, this is nonfiction, and all this stuff really happened. The author points out that the science stories we remember widely from the 19th century, like those of Edison and Marconi, are those that impact our lives today. The story of solar power a century ago has been forgotten because most of us dismiss solar as a marginal technology, one that doesn't (or maybe can't) have a big impact on our lives. That view appears to be changing. The writer traces the practical applications of solar power technology back to the Greeks and takes us through the 'burning mirrors' of the Middle Ages, but the main focus of the story is on an American entrepreneur who, having made millions from patenting safety devices as a young man, devoted the rest of his life to building huge solar-powered steam engines -- machines he believed could supply most of the energy the world would need in the 20th century. Solar-powered steam fell into the doldrums during after World War I, but now it is experiencing a revival. There are solar-powered steam plants in California and Spain today (one in Barstow here in CA, which I have seen myself) that can produce 12 megawatts, enough to power 10,000 houses, and it appears that solar powered steam may give PV a run for its money in some locations. This was a great read. I couldn't put it down.
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