Francois Villette

François Villette (1621- 1698) was an engineer, optician and fireworks expert at the court of Louis XIV of France. An early demonstrator of the potential of solar energy technology, he designed a tin-plated bronze mirror, almost one meter in diameter, which he used to reflect the sun’s rays onto objects which melted from the high temperatures produced. It was demonstrated with great effect at the court of Versailles.^[1]

It could melt pot-iron in 50 seconds, and vitrify quarry-stone in 45 seconds.^[2]

References

^ Miroir ardent de Louis XIV Archived 2015-11-17 at the Wayback Machine (in French) Science.chateauxversailles.fr, retrieved 1 September 2013
^ Lynall, Gregory (December 2013). "'Bundling up the Sun-Beams': Burning Mirrors in Eighteenth-Century Knowledge and Culture: Bundling up the Sun-Beams". Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies. 36 (4): 477–490. doi:10.1111/1754-0208.12077.

Description du grand miroir ardent, fait par les sieurs Villette père et fils natifs de Lion avec quelques remarques sur les efets surprenans et admirables quIil produit. A Liege, Chez Guillaume Barnabe Imprimeur de son Altesse Serenissime Electorale, 1715, 16 pp. Digitized by Google from a book at the Austrian National Library (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek).
A Description of the Great Burning-Glass Made by Mr. Villette and his Two Sons, Born at Lyons. With some Remarks upon the surprising and wonderful Effects thereof (London, 1718).
John Harris and John Theophilis Desaguliers, ‘ An Account of Some Experiments Tried with Mons. Villette's Burning Concave, in June 1718’, PT 30 (1719), p. 976-977.