Who invented air conditioning?
THE REAL INVENTOR OF AIR CONDITIONING David Crosthwait, inventor and authority on heat transfer, ventilation and air conditioning, was born in Nashville in 1898 and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. At that time, it was relatively rare for an African American man to achieve an esteemed reputation in the sciences, yet that is exactly what he did. Crosthwait earned a B.S. from Purdue University in 1913 and a masters degree in engineering in 1920. A few years after he finished his degrees, he became Research Engineer, Director of Research Laboratories for C.A. Dunham Company, now Marshall Engineered Products Co., in Marshalltown, Iowa, where he worked from 1925 to 1930. During the 1920s and 30s, Crosthwait invented an improved boiler, a new thermostat control and a new differential vacuum pump, all more effective for the heating systems in larger buildings. He became very well-known for coming up with innovative solutions to heating and ventilation problems, and as such, Crosthwait was co
David Crosthwait is not the “real” inventor of air conditioning. The first working air conditioner was invented by Willis Haviland Carrier in 1902 when Crosthwait would have been only four years old. I believe Crosthwait did have a large roll in perfecting central air conditioning for homes, and businesses though.
Willis Haviland Carrier is credited with the invention of air conditioning. The last name may be familiar to you. The company he founded, Carrier, is still making air conditioners. Click on http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa081797.htm for more information about Carrier.
