In conclusion it is fair to say that the Pyreheliophero and all the work leading up to it were remarkable achievements for Father Himalaya’s time, truly deserving their dissemination among the solar energy scientists of today and even among the general public interested in the History of Science and Technology.

Very high concentration of solar radiation on a continuous basis was achieved by a play of clever optics and simple mechanisms, in particular in the case of the Pirheliophero. Quite
likely it produced in a sustainable manner the highest temperature ever with a solar device, a World Record for the day. Even today it is not easy to obtain higher temperatures and the limitations in terms of the knowledge of optics, materials, sensors, etc. are quite different from those at the turn of the 19th century.

For the record it is important to point out that Father Himalaya was not always correct in his interpretations or in his stated goals. That is quite understandable when only later day science could prove him wrong. However in other instances, when even scientists of his day might have been able to correct him, he did not know better. In that case a possible excuse is that he had no way to encompass in depth the very wide range of knowledge that he needed in order not to make those specific wrong statements or claims, in particular given his lack of a high level formal training in the basic sciences, as referred. That should not prevent us from admiring his powerful and creative mind, brilliantly complemented by his cunning practical eye, to translate ideas into useful devices.

For instance, after his forays into Solar Energy, Father Himalaya moved on to other topics which, as commented upon in the Introduction, included among many other remarkable things, explosives and rotary engines.

After St. Louis he continued to work and travel all over the World, and got wide recognition, especially from his fellow country men and in particular in the region he came from, Minho, in the North of Portugal. Throughout the rest of his life he kept right on a collision course with many of the established views of the day, in such diverse areas as religion, politics, agriculture, medicine, industry, social development, ecology, etc., to a degree which would make him feel quite at home in today’s World. Perhaps that really constitutes the best summary of his persona: a man 100 years ahead of its time. He died in December, 21st, 1933.

Final note: an extended version of this paper is being published in 2004 in Annals of Solar Energy, chapter XX.

References

[1]-Jacinto Rodrigues — "A Conspiragao Solar do Padre Himalaya"-Edigao Cooperativa de Actividades Artisticas, 1999 (ISBN-972-9089-44-2)

[2] A. Mouchot "La Chaleur Solaire et ses applications industrielles" Paris Gauthier Villar, Imprimeur Libraire, 1869

[3] Louis de Royaumont "Conquete du Soleil" Ed. Marpon et Flammarion (1880-86)

[4] Charles Metelier "La conquete paciphique de l’Afrique par le soleil", Paris, Ed. 1890

[5] Journal « Seroes » , April 1901 ( on Calver’s system in Tucson, Arizona)

[6] Journal « Gazeta Ilustrada », 1901 (drawings with Aubrey Eneas truncated cone)

[7] Journal « Seroes » June 1901, ( Solar engine by Aubrey Eneas, Pasadena, California)

[8] Aden B. Meinel, Marjorie P. Meinel « Apllied Solar Energy, an Introduction » Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1976, Second Printing, January 1977

[9] Patent 292 360, 7 September 1899, INPI, Paris

[10] Patent 293.512 October 20, 1899, INPI, Paris

[11] Patent 307.699, January 31, 1901, INPI, Paris

[12] Patent 3746, Livro 4°, fl.151, August31, 1901, Rep. Propriedade Industrial, Lisboa

[13] Patent 797 891, August 22 1905, National Archives Washington D. C, U. S.A.

[14] Private communication to Prof. Jacinto Rodrigues, made by Prof. Joao Gabriel da Silva (Universidade de Coimbra) and integrated in [1].

[15] Adolphe Demy ’’Exposition Universelle”-pp. 709-711 Bibliotheque de St. Genevieve, 1904, Paris

[16] “History of the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition” , pp.281, Universal Exposition Publishing Company, 1905, St. Louis, U. S.A.

[17] J. W. Buel, Editor, “Louisiana and the Fair” pp.3128, World’s Progress Publishing Co. 1904­1905,

[18] “Sunday Magazine St. Louis Post Dispatch” , July 10, 1904

[19] “St. Louis Republic” October 2, 1904

[20] “Western Watchman” January 5th, 1905

[21] “New York Times” and “ New York Herald” , March 12th, 1905

[22] “Scientific American” October 1904

[23] — W. T. Welford, R. Winston “ The Optics of Non Imaging Concentrators” , 1978, Academic

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank in the first place, Prof. Jacinto Rodrigues for all the conversations and collaboration received, in particular for the copies of the patents and other documents which were thus possible and easy to consult. Secondly the author wishes to thank Rui Rodrigues from INETI who helped with handling of all photographs and drawings. The author further wishes to thank Prof. J. J. Delgado Domingos from IST for the copies of the documents in his possession, an indispensable complement of the ones obtained form Prof. Jacinto Rodrigues and Mss. Maria Abreu e Lima from Cooperativa de Actividades Artisticas and Mr. Humberto Nelson from Pagella, for the photographs made directly available.

Special thanks to Dr. Cesare Silvi, Vice president of ISES Italia and immediate past President of ISES International, for the efforts he his making to promote a thorough look at the history of Solar Energy and the encouragement the author got from him to undertake the task of writing this paper.