Pyreliophorus

The Pyreliophorus was a device created by the Portuguese priest Manuel António Gomes, also known as padre Himalaya, whose objective was to melt many different types of materials using solar energy. The device used several reflecting mirror

Mirror

A mirror is an object that reflects light or sound in a way that preserves much of its original quality prior to its contact with the mirror. Some mirrors also filter out some wavelengths, while preserving other wavelengths in the reflection...

s to concentrate the sunlight into a common point. With this device, it was possible to reach a temperature of around 3500 °C, enough to melt many types of metals and rocks.

This device was one of the main attractions on the Saint Louis World's Fair

Louisiana Purchase Exposition

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the Saint Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in 1904.- Background :...

 in 1904, and it was awarded with two gold medals and with one silver medal.

Himalaya protected his Pyreliophorus using the patent system, on many jurisdictions, including the British one on the patent application number GB 190116181