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Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways To Get Through The Summer) (2010)

by Stan Cox(Favorite Author)

3.4 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1595584897 (ISBN13: 9781595584892)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

New Press, The

review 1: very interesting historical and cultural analysis of air conditioning. Describes clearly the scope (e.g., we in the US use more electricity for air conditioning than the people of all of Africa use for all purposes), relative recency (in 1960, the year before I was born, only 12% of US households had any a/c, and this was mainly in the form of window units rather than central -- by 1980 55%, and by 2005 82%, mainly central air), and myriad effects (wasted gas as we cool our idling cars, pollution, climate change, migration to the Sun Belt, etc.) of the rise of air conditioning.My kids are always amazed that I grew up in the DC area without central a/c. This is one instance in which I can confidently say we knew what we were missing. I didn't know what the solution would... more be or when it would come, but I knew it was darn hot much of the summer. Before cell phones, I don't recall college students sprinting across campus to get to a pay phone because they couldn't stand to be out of touch -- the availability of the technology has created its own demand. But a/c definitely filled a void we had felt.That said, the book makes exquisitely clear its wonders come at a huge cost.
review 2: "Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer) is an interesting read that ties together electricity use, fossil fuels, global warming, and the fate of our planet as it relates to the use of air conditioning. Most of us probably don't even give a second thought about turning on the air conditioner in our living room or bedroom during the hottest or most humid days of summer or even to turning it on in our automobiles as we drive (alone) to and from work and errands. It is an invention for human comfort that is often used and not so often thought of. Until author Stan Cox wrote this book.Maybe people will read and dismiss his arguments as incorrect or overreactionary. Others just won't read the book at all. But for those of us who do take the time to read this short, compact book, it will be hard not to think about the impact air conditioner use has on the electricity power grid, carbon emissions, and our environment (soil and drinking water) from leaking refrigerants. I admit that I wasn't too overwrought with emotion nor was I called to action to save the planet from the perils of air conditioning overuse (although I don't use the ac in my car nor did I have one in the window in my home this summer). I did enjoy the way Mr. Cox intertwined the history of the air conditioner in America to major changes in our society. His documentation and analysis is intriguing and definitely thought provoking. I always enjoy a book that takes something like air conditioning and shows me how it impacts me, my environment, and society more than I could have ever dreamed of. The author did this. That is why it gets three stars. less

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