Félix Trombe (1906–1985) was a French

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

and

speleologist Speleology () is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their composition, structure, physical properties, history, ecology, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorpholog ...

. He was born in Nogent and died in

Ganties Ganties (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Haute-Garonne department The following is a list of the 586 communes in the French department of Haute-Garonne. Th ...

. He is best known for his pioneering work in

passive solar building design In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, reflect, and distribute solar energy, in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design because, unli ...

with the

Trombe wall A Trombe wall is a massive equator-facing wall that is painted a dark color in order to absorb thermal energy from incident sunlight and covered with a glass on the outside with an insulating air-gap between the wall and the glaze. A Trombe wall is ...

, which bears his name. He is also credited with hypothesizing

passive daytime radiative cooling Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) (also passive radiative cooling, daytime passive radiative cooling, radiative sky cooling, photonic radiative cooling, and terrestrial radiative cooling) is the use of unpowered, reflective/Emissivity, ther ...

in 1967.

Mont-Louis Solar Furnace

In 1949 Trombe directed the construction of the experimental 50 kW

Mont-Louis Solar Furnace The Mont-Louis Solar Furnace is an experimental solar furnace - a solar thermal energy facility that was built in 1949. It was the first facility of its kind in the world, and was a precursor of the Odeillo Solar Furnace. It provides a thermal p ...

in the

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ; ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spain, Spanish ...

for high temperature experiments in physics and chemistry. In 1962, a 1000 kW

solar furnace A solar furnace is a structure that uses concentrated solar power to produce high temperatures, usually for industry. Parabolic mirrors or heliostats concentrate light ( Insolation) onto a focal point. The temperature at the focal point may ...

was built in Odeillo.

Speleology

In 1934, Félix Trombe explored the underground

Comminges The Comminges (; Occitan language, Occitan/Gascon language, Gascon: ''Comenge'') is an ancient region of southern France in the foothills of the Pyrenees, corresponding approximately to the arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens in the departments of Fran ...

. In 1945, he was a member of the caving commission of the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

and another commission of the French National Committee of Geodesy and Geophysics. He supported

René Jeannel René Jeannel (23 March 1879 – 20 February 1965) was a French entomologist.Jean-Jacques Amigo, « Jeannel (René, Gabriel, Marie) », in Nouveau Dictionnaire de biographies roussillonnaises, vol. 3 Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre, Perpignan, ...

in 1948 during the creation of the National Committee of Speleology, which would become the

French Federation of Speleology The French Federation of Speleology (, FFS), is a French organisation that represents all persons practicing or studying caving and canyoning and promotes the study and conservation of caves. It was formed in 1963 by the amalgamation of two organ ...

. He was also one of those who worked on the creation, in 1948, of the underground laboratory of Moulis, a unit of the CNRS responsible for studying cave

Troglofauna Troglofauna are small cave-dwelling animals that have adapted to their dark surroundings. Troglofauna and stygofauna are the two types of subterranean fauna (based on life-history). Both are associated with subterranean environments – troglofa ...

. From 6 to 12 August 1947, he took part in the explorations of the underground river of

Padirac Cave The Padirac Chasm ( French: ''Gouffre de Padirac'') is a cave located near Gramat, in the Lot department, Occitanie region, France. Features The chasm itself is deep, with a diameter of approximately . Visitors descend via a lift or a stair ...

with Guy de Lavaur and his son Géraud, Jean Lesur and Louis Conduché. Trombe equips the

Robert de Joly Robert-Jacques de Joly (, Paris – , Montpellier) was a famous French caver and speleologist. Considered by some as the successor to Édouard-Alfred Martel (the "father of modern speleology"), de Joly was a leading figure of French speleolog ...

ledge, then they reach the Grand Chaos. Trombe then analysed the coloured water at the resurgences of the river and proved the link between Padirac and the resurgences under Montvalent. In 1947, he directed the exploration operations of the Henne Morte chasm, future link in the Réseau Félix Trombe, with the support of soldiers who install an electric cable. On 31 August, Norbert Casteret and Marcel Loubens managed to reach the bottom of the shaft.''Le mystère de la Henne Morte'', collection Voyages et Aventures, Paris, Susse, 127p

EAN Ean may refer to: People * Ean Campbell (1856–1921), Scottish Anglican cleric, bishop of Glasgow and Galloway * Ean Elliot Clevenger, American multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter * Ean Evans (1960–2009), bassist for Lynyrd Skynyr ...

9782734807438 The France record for depth was reached: , a level reduced to in 1971.

References

20th-century French engineers Solar building designers 1906 births 1985 deaths {{France-engineer-stub