Padre Himalaya, a Portuguese Pioneer on Solar Energy

The television channel RTP2 of Portugal is broadcasting a documentary about the life of Manuel António Gomes, best known as Padre Himalaya. This Portuguese priest, who was also a scientist and inventor, was one of the pioneers in the investigation of solar energy.

His biggest achievement was the Pirelióforo, a device in which thousands of mirrors over a surface of 80 square meters concentrated solar energy up to a temperature of 3500 degrees Celsius: enough to melt most metals and stones. The huge installment was a star in the 1904 Universal Expo of St. Louis, where it won two gold medals.

Himalaya lived in Paris and in Argentina (1927-1932), where he continued his studies and wrote books on Cosmology; and died in 1933 in Portugal. His work is analyzed in both a book by the name A Conspiração Solar do Padre Himalaya - Esboço biográfico dum português pioneiro da Ecologia (The Solar Conspiration of Father Himalaya - Biographic Outline of a Portuguese Pioneer in Ecology), and a documentary by Jorge António by the name A Utopia do Padre Himalaya (Father Himalaya’s Utopia); which will be broadcasted tomorrow at 11.30 PM by RTP2 channel of Portugal.

For those outside the country, there’s a documentary on the life of this pioneer published in YouTube (in French); and a complete biography of Padre Himalaya at Naturlink (in Portuguese). ::Via Boassas ::RTP2

Thanks José Rui Fernandes for the tip!