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Cool: How Air Conditioning Changed Everything

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Availability: In Stock.
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Arrives Monday, May 6
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Format: Kindle


Description

“[A] history of air conditioning, chronicling the numerous gimmicks, failed attempts, con jobs, and eventual successes . . . a surprisingly interesting journey.” —San Francisco Book Review The air conditioner is often hailed as one of the modern world’s greatest inventions—yet nearly as often blamed for global disaster. It has changed everything from architecture to people’s food habits; saved countless lives, and caused countless deaths. First appearing in 1902, when Willis Carrier, an engineer barely out of college, developed the “Apparatus for Treating Air,” everyone assumed it would instantly change the world. But the story of air conditioning and its rise to ubiquity is far from simple. In Cool, Salvatore Basile tracks two fascinating stories: the struggle to perfect an effective cooling device, and the effort to convince people that they actually needed such a thing. With a cast of characters ranging from Leonardo da Vinci to Richard Nixon and Felix the Cat, Cool showcases the myriad reactions to air conditioning as it was developed and introduced to the world. Here is a unique perspective on a common convenience: how we came to rely on it today, and how it might change radically tomorrow. Read more


Publisher ‏ : ‎ Fordham University Press; 1st edition (September 1, 2014)


Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 1, 2014


Language ‏ : ‎ English


File size ‏ : ‎ 16340 KB


Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled


Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported


Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled


X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled


Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • How air conditioning raised our standard of living
I really appreciated this book on how air conditioning raised the American standard of living. Before air conditioning, summers were a slow torture of coping with inescapable heat. Theaters, churches and other places of public gathering were insufferable. Attendees were overheated due to the body heat of crowds. Buildings reeked due to body odors of unwashed masses. It was not uncommon for Congressmen to pass out due to heat exhaustion in the middle of a session. Even U.S. presidents suffered. After enduring a two hour summer ceremony for laying the cornerstone for the Washington Monument, Zachary Taylor in his black suit downed a whole pitcher of ice milk as part of a desperate attempt to cool off. This caused a rupture, and President Taylor died within a few days. As much of a problem as climate control was for public places, the first major application of air conditioning was for factories. The book tells the story of how Willis Carrier—a Cornell-trained mechanical engineer and future businessman who would soon play a substantial role in bringing air conditioning to a mass market—was tasked with solving a critical problem for the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographic and Publishing Company, an established color printing company in Brooklyn. Sackett-Wilhelms, like many industries at the turn of the 20th century, was at the mercy of weather. The quality of their print jobs was greatly impacted by small variations in temperature and humidity. A few degrees too many meant that ink would run, colors would be off, and letters would be smudged. Large print jobs would be ruined by the heat, reams of paper would be discarded and critical publication deadlines would be missed. It was not uncommon for the company to have to halt production for especially hot days. The critical problem for Sackett-Wilhelms was not temperature per se but the humidity induced by hot days. Could young Carrier help solve this problem? Supposedly, Carrier's critical insight for air conditioning came when he was sitting on a train in Pittsburgh on a foggy night, observing moisture condensing on the window. Perhaps he could suck the moisture out of factory air—and give precise control over humidity—by creating an artificial fog and inducing condensation. This idea became the basis for air conditioning. After solving the climate control problem at Sackett-Wilhelms, Carrier went on to build similar, fit-for-purpose air conditioning devices for textile manufacturers, soap makers, leather producers, meat packers, brewers, chewing gum manufacturers, and chocolate companies. Can you imagine a chocolate factory trying to operate in 90-degree weather? Carrier and competing producers of air conditioners went on to design and sell devices to cool businesses open to the public. Movie theaters soon boasted of their new chilled air, offering patrons an opportunity a cool, two hour respite from summer heat in which they could enjoy an entertaining flick. Forward-thinking department chains such as Macy's eagerly embraced air conditioning, seeing it as another mechanism to make their stores more attractive and more pleasant on the nostrils. By the 1940s, Carrier traveled the country presenting his vision of climate-controlled homes with central air conditioning well before that became common place, and his eponymous company soon made that a reality. I was particularly amused by Carrier's unapologetic confidence in the safety and efficacy of his products. According to one anecdote, Carrier was enlisted to install an air conditioning system for the Rivoli Theater in New York. After the project began, a building inspector threatened to delay this highly visible endeavor because he was not familiar with the new refrigerant Carrier was using, dielene, and questioned its non-flammability. Confident in the safety of his thoroughly-tested systems, Carrier whipped out a bottle of dielene, poured some into a cup, ignited a match, and dropped it into the liquid before the inspector could object. Having a way with words, the author wrote that although the dielene didn't explode, as Carrier knew it wouldn't, the inspector did, but he soon issued the needed permit. This is a well-written book by a talented and funny author. My main and only criticism is that the narrative is sprawling at times. Even though I applaud the author for thoroughly illustrating air conditioning's overwhelmingly positive impact on human life, I sometimes felt inundated by example after example after example. I also wish that the book had more Willis Carrier stories, but that is not really a fault. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2015 by Doug
    • How Did They Survive Summer Before Air Conditioning?
As I sit here in the Central Valley of California, 2 days after we had a record heat wave with temperatures well over 100 for 8 days, it makes me wonder how people survived the summers before the invention of air conditioning. And this book, in part, tells the story of how they did that. Treating air to make it cooler in the summer had been a goal for quite some time. Even back before mechanical air conditioning, ice was "mined" for lakes in winter and spring and stored in huge insulated warehouses to provide ice for any number of reasons throughout the year. And, to some extent, it worked. The ice box we hear about was cooled by that ice harvested from the lakes, with a man coming around to refill your box as needed. As technology grew, in the form of the high rise building and as the theater became the entertainment place to be, a need to keep buildings cool became necessary. Many different methods were tried, including loading the basements with ice and using fans to blow air over the ice, providing a cooling effect. This was, however, inefficient and didn't fill the needs of everyone. Along came Willis Carrier with an idea that eventually became modern air conditioning. This book covers the hunt for and creation of air conditioning in a readable and interesting manner. It certainly made me think of how far we have come, but also how far we still have to go. Well written and interesting this is a great summer read! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2017 by Frederick S. Goethel
    • Texans Love AC
A great read about the history of air conditioning. Thanks to Willis Carrier for developing the technology that is still being used. Life in the South is so much better thanks to AC in our homes and businesses.
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2022 by God Bless Texas
    • Skimmable history of modern air conditioning with a focus on the early 20th century in the United States
I got this book to help me research a quiz I was writing about air conditioning. It is okay, but doesn't really grab the reader. I ended up skimming large sections. Focuses a lot on the early 20th century in America, which is appropriate for the topic, but it's a bit incomplete. I wish it had committed more to a single thesis or biography. It reads like a competent term paper written by a generalist, but not something the author is really fluent in or passionate about. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2018 by Tom Craven
    • Made me appreciate modern technology!
Loved this book! It was fascinating to read about how life was so different before air conditioning. It really makes you appreciate modern technology!! Note that this book isn't for everyone, but if you like books by Mark Kurlansky and Tom Standage (and certain Bill Bryson books), then you would probably enjoy this book as well. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2015 by HD NY
    • While I enjoyed the history of air conditioning's development and integration into ...
While I enjoyed the history of air conditioning's development and integration into public, and private, circles, I found that the author's continual digs at people who had the money to put A/C in their private homes and offices was too much. When A/C was a big deal (like early computers) it was very expensive. Therefore, only people (or companies) with sufficient disposable funds could afford to install Carrier's systems. As A/C systems got more compact and were more affordable to people with more modest incomes, Mr. Basile continued to include disparaging remarks directed towards people with money. It soured the book for me and I didn't finish it. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2015 by R. Notkin
    • A fascinating story
I found this book fascinating. Not only the process of how air conditioning came to be and to be so common. But what life was like before air conditioning, and how people coped with the heat and humidity. The false ideas that people held and just accepted as true. Just a fascinating read.
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2015 by Daniel Ethier
    • Good read.
Who would have thought that a book on air conditioning could be so engaging? Good read.
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2017 by A. Moore

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