Chilled: How Refrigeration Changed the World and Might Do So Again

'... a chill-cabinet of curiosities: hot stuff, and deeply cool ...' Heat and fire have been at humanity’s command for at least 100,000 years, but we’ve been in control of the cold for barely one hundred. Why it took so long is quite a story. Figuring out the cold would involve some gnomes, a fake perpetual motion machine and a fresh chicken bought in a blizzard. Where did it get us in the end? First there’s the obvious – understanding cold has allowed us to rewrite the rules of food. However, there is much more to it than that. Space rockets, skyscrapers, medical scanners and even party balloons could not exist without the refrigerator. And today, refrigeration is still at the cutting edge as we seek to turn the science fiction of teleportation, immortality and conscious computers into scientific fact. In Chilled, Tom Jackson delivers the cold hard facts on refrigeration and our battle to keep things cool over the centuries, from the ice houses of ancient Persia to the present day, where a seemingly mundane whirring white box in the kitchen represents one of the genuine wonders of the modern age.

Table of Contents:
1 Old School Cool 2 Conjuring Cold 3 Applying Pressure 4 The Temper of the Air 5 Chill and the Airs 6 Going for the Motion 7 An Ice King – or Two 8 Taking the Heat 9 Living in the Chain 10 Deep Cold 11 The Hidden Chill 12 The Future is Cold

About the Author :
Tom Jackson is a science writer based in Bristol, UK. Tom specialises in recasting science and technology into lively historical narratives. After almost 20 years of writing, Tom has uncovered a wealth of stories that help to bring technical content alive and create new ways of enjoying learning about science. In his time, Tom has been a zoo keeper, travel writer, buffalo catcher and filing clerk, but he now writes for adults and children, for books, magazines and TV.

Review :
Buoyant, idiosyncratic and very funny ... this history of what is, ultimately, a rather mundane piece of kitchenware is consistently fascinating. Cool story. Fun and eye-opening ... this is an inspiring, compelling and utterly convincing book. Without refrigeration, this delightfully illuminating book reminds us, not only would there be no ice cream or cold lager, there would be no MRI scanners in hospitals, no super-computers, no weekly food shop. …a chill-cabinet of curiosities: hot stuff, and deeply cool… Jackson sees the appliance as 'humanity's greatest achievements' ... Chilled attests to his abilities as a historian and a bit of a comedian. ...a nutritious little book. I can't think of a better light non-fiction summer read than this. Jackson handles tricky ideas deftly ... like a well-stocked refrigerator, this book is packed with tasty morsels. An entertaining romp through the history of refrigeration. One of the most entertaining sections of the book concerns the ice wars of 19th-century America where rivals competed to secure supplies...plenty of fascinating stuff. In his entertaining new book, Chilled, Jackson walks us through the creation of cold – or, at least, man-made cold. And he explains how frigid air made all sorts of things possible, from the variety of food we eat to the hydrogen bomb