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Essential Library of Inventions
How the Refrigerator Changed History (Essential Library of Inventions) by Lydia Bjornlund
How the Refrigerator Changed History examines the invention and evolution of the refrigerator and explores how refrigeration has changed the way people eat and live. Features include essential facts, a glossary, selected bibliography, websites, source notes, and an index, plus a timeline and maps, charts, and diagrams. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
Hardcover
First published September 1, 2015
18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 1, 2018
We have several titles from the Essential Library of Inventions series in the middle school library I manage. While refrigeration is not the most exciting of topics, this books thoroughly outlines how humans have found ways to make ice, move ice, keep food cool, and keep ourselves cool for thousands of years.
The diagrams of various inventions along with pictures of the actual machines should be pretty interesting to students. Even more interesting are the photos of men harvesting ice, men icing spinach for transport on a railing in 1939, and various photos of ice deliveries during the early 20th century. The photo of a Swanson’s TV dinner being pulled out of a tiny icebox was probably one of my favorites. Later photos show how refrigeration benefits other industries like healthcare, construction,and metalworking. The diagram that explains how refrigeration works didn’t make much sense to me, but I am more of a history person than science.
Within the text, there are numerous supplemental side bars on related topics. At the end, there are a few web resources listed for various museums chronicling the history of refrigeration and cooling.
If you’re a student researching any aspect of refrigeration or cooling, this book would make a great introduction to your research, providing context on individual inventions and inventors.
The diagrams of various inventions along with pictures of the actual machines should be pretty interesting to students. Even more interesting are the photos of men harvesting ice, men icing spinach for transport on a railing in 1939, and various photos of ice deliveries during the early 20th century. The photo of a Swanson’s TV dinner being pulled out of a tiny icebox was probably one of my favorites. Later photos show how refrigeration benefits other industries like healthcare, construction,and metalworking. The diagram that explains how refrigeration works didn’t make much sense to me, but I am more of a history person than science.
Within the text, there are numerous supplemental side bars on related topics. At the end, there are a few web resources listed for various museums chronicling the history of refrigeration and cooling.
If you’re a student researching any aspect of refrigeration or cooling, this book would make a great introduction to your research, providing context on individual inventions and inventors.
July 3, 2022
This book was fun. I enjoyed learning how the refrigerator was invented.
May 7, 2016
While working in the local library on my job hunt, I noticed this book’s cover displayed outwards on the shelf to catch a passerby’s eye. As a casual history buff and a fan of learning how societies change, I was quick to pick this up and take it home.
Lydia Bjornlund does a nice job of giving an overview of the history and development of refrigeration and air conditioning. The book was light in text with nice pictures and facsimiles of early 20th century advertisement of home refrigerators. The information was far from overwhelming and did a wonderful job introducing the key players and inventions of this scientific innovation. The most interesting part was to see how different industries changed, reacted, disappeared, or thrived because of this technological advancement.
Though this book pales in comparison to James Burke’s TV Series Connections, it is definitely a good introduction to young adult readers to the concepts of cause and effect throughout history. On a side note, while I understand the basic concepts refrigeration, I still can’t wrap my head around on the mechanical processes needed to drop the temperature of the refrigerants to make the process happen. I found an informative Video on YouTube, but I think I need to take some remedial science classes.
Lydia Bjornlund does a nice job of giving an overview of the history and development of refrigeration and air conditioning. The book was light in text with nice pictures and facsimiles of early 20th century advertisement of home refrigerators. The information was far from overwhelming and did a wonderful job introducing the key players and inventions of this scientific innovation. The most interesting part was to see how different industries changed, reacted, disappeared, or thrived because of this technological advancement.
Though this book pales in comparison to James Burke’s TV Series Connections, it is definitely a good introduction to young adult readers to the concepts of cause and effect throughout history. On a side note, while I understand the basic concepts refrigeration, I still can’t wrap my head around on the mechanical processes needed to drop the temperature of the refrigerants to make the process happen. I found an informative Video on YouTube, but I think I need to take some remedial science classes.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews