This week, we thought we’d take a brief look at something that helps us all to keep our cool – the air conditioner. Truly a marvel of discovery and invention.
In 2000, air conditioning (AC)/refrigeration was named among the 10 greatest mechanical engineering achievements of the 20th century by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Once considered a luxury, AC is now an essential in buildings vital to the economy and in our daily lives. It is estimated that 48% of all energy consumption in the USA is a result of cooling and heating.
The idea of AC has been around since pre-history. Ancient Egyptians used a wide variety of passive AC techniques, such as hanging wet reeds in their windows which, when the breeze would blow through, would send cool air into their buildings. In second century China, an inventor named Ding Huane created the first manually powered rotary fan.
In 1558, Giambattista della Porta,
an Italian scholar, polymath and playwright (sometimes referred to as the “professor of secrets”), described a method of chilling ice to temperatures far below its freezing point by mixing it with potassium nitrate in his book Natural Magic. In this book he covered a variety of the subjects including occult philosophy, astrology, alchemy, mathematics, meteorology and natural philosophy.
In the 1840s, physician and inventor Dr. John Gorrie of Florida proposed the idea of cooling cities to relieve residents of "the evils of high temperatures". He designed a machine that created ice using a compressor powered by a horse, water, wind-driven sails or steam and was granted a patent for it in 1851.
His invention laid the foundation for modern air conditioning and refrigeration.
In 1901, American inventor Willis H. Carrier built what is considered the first modern electrical air conditioning unit.
He installed his first air-conditioning system a year later, in Brooklyn, New York. His invention controlled both the temperature and humidity. Later, together with six other employees, Carrier formed The Carrier Air Conditioning Company of America, a business that, in 2020, employed 53,000 people and was valued at $18.6 billion.
So, while there’s no denying there’s money in cool, we thought we’d end this with words of advice on keeping cool – and getting a good night’s sleep - in the pre-AC days from Thomas Darlington, New York’s Health Commissioner from 1904-1910. “Much may be done by living decent, orderly lives: not hurrying about our duties, taking life as easily as possible, quietly, not being excited, keeping cool. Fussing and fretting, or, as some aptly say, ‘stewing’ about the weather gets on one’s mind and nerves so that sleep is impossible.”
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