Cool: How Air Conditioning Changed Everything

Cool: How Air Conditioning Changed Everything

â€œ[A] history of air conditioning, chronicling the numerous gimmicks, failed attempts, con jobs, and eventual successesÂ .Â .Â . a surprisingly interesting journey.â€ â€”San Francisco Book Review
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The air conditioner is often hailed as one of the modern worldâ€™s greatest inventionsâ€”yet nearly as often blamed for global disaster. It has changed everything from architecture to peopleâ€™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 â€œApparatus for Treating Air,â€ everyone assumed it would instantly change the world. But the story of air conditioning and its rise to ubiquity is far from simple.
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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.
Country USA
Manufacturer Fordham University Press
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2019-08-08
Format Kindle eBook

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