The Science of Air Conditioning: 200

Air conditioning is one of those inventions people claim they can live without right up until the indoor temperature reaches eighty-two degrees and the ceiling fan begins circulating air with the texture of hot soup. At that point, civilization quickly becomes negotiable. Clothing standards collapse, family members become irritable, pets relocate to the bathroom tile, and everyone begins standing in front of the open refrigerator as though the mustard shelf might offer asylum.For most of human history, people endured heat using shade, thick walls, high ceilings, open windows, handheld fans, porches, cold drinks, strategic inactivity, and the ancient technique of complaining until sunset. These methods worked well enough to keep the species alive, but they did not make anyone cheerful. Then engineers began experimenting with refrigeration, humidity control, ventilation, compressors, coils, refrigerants, and other mechanical arrangements that eventually allowed people to create January inside a building while August waited angrily on the other side of the wall.