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A Very Brief History Of Solar Energy (600 BC)

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Mankind has been attempting to figure out ways to capture light and warmth from the sun’s rays for thousands of years. The history of solar energy is quite long, beginning in the 600’s BC and going forward through current times. There is no uncertainty that the story of solar energy will not stop any time shortly. Since only a minor percentage of the sun’s energy is utilized, even at present, new breakthroughs and novel ways to harness the sun’s energy will push the solar energy timeline well into the hereafter.
The first people known to have enforced the use of solar energy on a large scale were the Ancient Egyptians, who employed it to heat their dwellings. They planned and made their homes so that the buildings stored up the sun’s warmth …show more content…

This former history of solar energy was first found out when humans used magnifying glasses in the 600’s BC to fire ants. Then, in the 200’s BC the Greeks and Romans used mirrors to refract the sun’s rays in order to light their torches for their religious temples.
By 100 BC, solar energy was rumored to possess been used when the Greeks reflected shields made of bronze on Roman ships, causing them to trip up on fire. Although this feat may only be a myth, it was revived by several scientists, including a Greek engineer, Anthemius of Tralles. As early as 600 AD, he reportedly used “burning glasses” and broke the myth some validity. He put down his findings in his treatise entitled Mechanical Paradoxes. Throughout the following 1300 years, there are repeated reports of solar energy being used to heat houses, bath houses, and public buildings.
In the 3rd century B.C. the Greeks made history not for applying solar energy for domestic comfort, but allegedly as a weapon of mass destructions! The story (which to this day is a hot subject of disagreement among scientists and historians) goes that a Roman naval force was sailing to sack the Greek citadel of Syracuse. With the assistance of the inventor Archimedes, the Greeks are reported to have used highly polished metal shields as mirrors to amplify and focus the light beams of the sun—and set flame to the advancing

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