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Papers by john perlin

The book traces the role of forests from the earliest civilizations in Mesopotamia to nineteenth ... more The book traces the role of forests from the earliest civilizations in Mesopotamia to nineteenth century societies in the New World, with particular emphasis on the influence of wood on the development and decline of societies through judicious use or depletion of the resource, ...

Elsevier eBooks, 1985

ABSTRACT-RESUMEN Because fuel was scarce and expensive, many Californians turned to the sun for h... more ABSTRACT-RESUMEN Because fuel was scarce and expensive, many Californians turned to the sun for heating water. The first commercial solar water heater, a glass-covered box with water tanks placed inside, was patented in 1891. Refinements on the 1891 patent which were made in 1909 resulted in the configuration still in use today—a glass covered box containing pipes soldered to a metal plate through which water flowed to a storage tank. Home built solar water heaters using these two configurations were also popular. The construction of these solar water heaters is simple and can be easily built to provide hot water for those currently living in the developing world.

Sustainability and Climate Change

The space program could not have existed without the solar cells and its twin, the transistor. Al... more The space program could not have existed without the solar cells and its twin, the transistor. Almost all satellites ever launched have relied on these two semiconductor devices to operate. Solar cells convert sunlight directly into electricity. No more than several hundred microns thick, they produce electricity without boilers, turbines, pipes and cooling towers. In fact, they work without moving parts. Photons, packets of energy from the sun, silently split loosely bound electrons in the solar material from their orbits. The solar cell’s intrinsic voltage pushes those liberated electrons in its vicinity to contacts where they flow through as electricity. The modularity of the technology called photovoltaics allows technicians to exactly fit the amount of solar cells to the application at hand whether requiring a milliwatt or megawatts of power

Optical Science and Engineering

L'energie photochimique du rayonnement solaire est indispensable au bon fonctionnement des sa... more L'energie photochimique du rayonnement solaire est indispensable au bon fonctionnement des satellites qui etablissent un veritable reseau de communications dans de nombreux domaines

Preface, 2002 Acknowledgments 1. Photovoltaics: The Great Solar Hope 2. Photoelectric Dreams 3. T... more Preface, 2002 Acknowledgments 1. Photovoltaics: The Great Solar Hope 2. Photoelectric Dreams 3. The Dream Becomes Real 4. Searching for Applications 5. Saved by the Space Race 6. Bringing Solar Cells Down to Earth 7. The First Mass Earth Market 8. Captain Lomer's Saga 9. Working on the Railroad 10. Long Distance for Everyone 11. Father Verspieren Preaches the Solar Gospel 12. Electrifying the Unelectrified 13. Solarizing the Electrified 14. Better Cells, Cheaper Cells 15. The Silent Revolution Continues Index Illustration Credits

Until the ascendancy of fossil fuels, wood has been the principal fuel and building material from... more Until the ascendancy of fossil fuels, wood has been the principal fuel and building material from the dawn of civilization. Its abundance or scarcity greatly shaped, as A Forest Journey ably relates, the culture, demographics, economy, internal and external politics, and technology of successive societies over the millennia. The book's comprehensive coverage of the major role forests have played in human life--told with grace, fluency, imagination, and humor-gained it recognition as a Harvard Classic in Science and World History and as one of Harvard's "One-Hundred Great Books." Others receiving the honor include such luminaries as Stephen Jay Gould and E. O. Wilson. This new paperback edition will add a prologue and an epilogue to reflect the current situation in which forests have become imperative for humanity's survival.

American Heritage of Invention Technology, 2002

Traducción de: A Golden Thread Contenido: 1. Uso primitivo del sol. 2. Energía del sol. 3. Agua c... more Traducción de: A Golden Thread Contenido: 1. Uso primitivo del sol. 2. Energía del sol. 3. Agua caliente solar. 4. Calefacción Solar. 5. La época actual.

Choice Reviews Online, 2014