The Science of Refrigeration

Refrigeration may be one of the greatest accomplishments of civilization that almost nobody thinks about until the refrigerator quits at two o'clock in the morning. At that moment, a humming white box that had previously ranked somewhere between the toaster and the broom suddenly becomes the most important piece of machinery in the house. There is milk getting warmer, ice cream surrendering to gravity, yesterday's chicken beginning negotiations with microbiology, and somebody standing barefoot in the kitchen opening the refrigerator door every three minutes as though the machine might have reconsidered its decision.

Yet refrigeration is far more than the appliance sitting beside the kitchen counter. It is an enormous scientific and industrial system that allows modern civilization to feed cities, transport medicines, preserve blood, manufacture electronics, operate supermarkets, ship seafood across continents, freeze entire warehouses, cool computer equipment, make artificial ice, maintain skating rinks, produce air conditioning, preserve scientific samples, and provide millions of people with the luxury of buying strawberries several months after strawberries have any natural business existing where they live. Without refrigeration, the modern food supply would look radically different, hospitals would face enormous limitations, international trade would shrink, and the frozen-pizza industry would be forced to admit that civilization had taken a terrible turn.