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Was Ice making John Gorrie's greatest legacy?

Article Excerpt
INTRODUCTION

In the 153 years since the death of John Gorrie, (Figure 1) much has been written about this refrigeration pioneer. He is famous as the first documented American to construct a mechanical refrigeration machine for making ice. But he was also the first American to use mechanical refrigeration for comfort cooling. These are the two faces of John Gorrie: Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. Most casual references to Gorrie cite his work in ice making as his great accomplishment. True, his ice making legacy was important historically, but what about his often overlooked other side. Was John Gorrie an air conditioning pioneer too?

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This paper will review John Gorrie' s two sides and document his often overlooked efforts in air conditioning.

WHAT INFORMATION DO WE HAVE?

Compiling the true story of John Gorrie' s legacy has not been easy. It has been said of Gorrie: "He was born on two different dates, graduated from medical school on two different dates, and died on three' different dates." (Corbin, 1972)

Since the 1890's, numerous individuals have investigated the accomplishments of John Gorrie, resulting in numerous articles, papers and books. Although the volume of information is large, amazingly it is based on little hard factual sources. No personal notes, papers or artifacts have survived, except the original patent document (Figure 2) issued in 1851 (currently in the Smithsonian Institution) and its supporting application file (located in the National Archives). John Gorrie did leave some published legacy, and there are some published references to his ice machines. These will serve as the basis for the conclusions in this paper.

GORRIE'S BEGINNINGS IN AIR CONDITIONING

John Gorrie was a medical doctor practicing general medicine beginning in the 1830's from his home in Apalachicola in the panhandle of Florida. He frequently dealt with malaria and it's resulting fevers, becoming interested in it's causes and cures. In the early 19 th Century, no one knew that malaria was spread by mosquitoes. Rather it was commonly believed that something unknown, but common to hot and humid areas was the possible cause. Not only was heat and humidity suspected, but its presence magnified the suffering of those afflicted with malaria.

Apparently John Gorrie became so interested in the connection of heat and humidity to disease, that he proposed a bold solution - cool entire cities! In 1842 he wrote an anonymous article titled Refrigeration and Ventilation of Cities (Anonymous, 1842) which offered an exhaustive discussion of the problems of summer heat and humidity in the southern United States including "malarious" diseases. Gorrie said: "But the paramount effect of high temperature, in repressing the growth of Southern cities, arises from the unhealthiness of climate it induces ... It is however, in the form of malarial complaints, that the effects of solar heat are most distinctly marked. Whatever may be the other concurring causes of fevers, - particularly of bilious remittent and yellow fevers, -it seems to be universally conceded, that the most essential circumstance connected with them, is a high degree of atmospheric temperature." (Anonymous, 1842, p.415)

To alleviate the ill effect of high temperature, John Gorrie proposed that entire cities should be cooled by mechanical means. Various modes of artificial cooling were discussed including the use of ice. However Gorrie calculated that 400 to 2000 tons (406420 to 2032100 kg) of ice would be needed to cool the air by 5 F (about 3 C) concluding that the expense of procuring and distributing the ice would be prohibitive. Instead, he proposed "to counteract the evils of high temperature, and improve the condition of our cities, [by]...

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