The Prophet of Sun Power: Frank Shuman

Frank Shuman (1862–1918) was a self-made millionaire, having secured his fortune with the invention of reinforced wire glass. Yet, he traded industrial comfort for visionary prophecy, convinced that reliance on coal and oil was a path to global conflict. His solar thermal power plant, built with meticulous engineering and boundless ambition, was a working machine capable of delivering clean, free energy—a blueprint for a new, peaceful world order. This is the definitive, tragic story of the Sun Power Company. Shuman's genius was undeniable, but his visionary success was met by two overwhelming forces: the tyranny of cheap fossil fuels and the cataclysm of World War I. The war he predicted became the agent of his destruction, seizing his equipment, dissolving his international partnership, and burying his revolutionary technology for a hundred years. The Prophet of Sun Power is a sweeping biography that resurrects a lost pioneer whose technical design for the parabolic trough remains the foundation of modern solar power today. It is a powerful reminder that technological excellence is often insufficient against economic and geopolitical forces, and a profound historical warning that the energy future we urgently seek was, tragically, already available a century ago. Approx.155 pages, 28500 word count