Chilled: How Refrigeration Changed the World and Might Do So Again

Chilled is one of my favorite types of books. It deals with a subject that, until I opened the book, I didn’t even know I was interested in. Few things in the house seem more boring than the lowly refrigerator, it just sort of hums along, keeping things cold, and holding up the household messages. And yet, as Tom Jackson shows, it can trace its lineage back further than even the most dedicated genealogist. Finally, modern civilization is only possible with inexpensive and ubiquitous refrigeration.