How the Refrigerator Changed History

How the Refrigerator Changed History — page 5
came from New York and New England where workers harvested it in the winter from frozen rivers and ponds In winter ice was expensive In summer it was often completely unavailable When Gorrie heard about other scientists experiments with mechanical ice systems he quit his job as a physician and threw himself into creating an ice making machine In an 1844 article in Apalachicola's Commercial Advertiser newspaper Gorrie described how his invention would work If the air were highly compressed it would heat up by the energy of compression If this compressed air were run through metal pipes cooled with water and if this air cooled to the water temperature was expanded down to atmospheric pressure again very low temperatures could be obtained even low enough to freeze water in pans in a refrigerator box Gorrie recognized that his invention would be far easier to sell if it appealed to an audience beyond patients suffering from malaria and their doctors He wrote about the benefits of artificial ice promoting its commercial and humanitarian benefits Gorrie found a wealthy investor to sponsor his project and enlisted the Cincinnati Iron Works to build a model of this first commercially available refrigeration machine A replica of John Gorrie's ice machine is on display in the Garrie Museum in Apalachicola Florida 10