Air conditioning changed the world. In this book. Wilson traces the history of cooling systems and how the modern air conditioning system led to all sorts of other innovations. In our heated world, it's impossible to imagine living without air conditioning but there are real environmental consequences for this luxury. Wilson also shares how people can reduce their reliance on being cold all the time. This book will make you think twice before you reach for the thermostat.

Interesting book. I had no idea freon could still be gotten. Sort of sad really; new Ac does NOT cool second floors. I was told to install window air conditioners in my upstair bedrooms by a number of HVAC guys. So much for comfort. On the up side, my basement can be used as a freezer... I am still not convinced of global warming due to any thing humanity has done. However, it is a well written and enlightening book that I think will support many peoples beliefs. Giving book a 4 star rating for informing us freon still exists! Thank you, Mr. Wilson!

I don't think that this was the book for me. It felt dense and everything was going over my head. I think that if you have more of a science mind, you will enjoy this.

Interesting History Marred By Marxist Politics And Alarmist Propaganda. In the description of this book, it is claimed that we will get a look at history, science, road trip, and philosophy as it relates to Freon and its history. Well, the philosophy is avowed Marxism (even quoting Marx directly to begin one of the sections) and the "science" is mostly alarmist "Global Cooling" / "Global Warming" / "Climate Change" junk wherein he cites in part some of the very studies that Stephen Koonin's Unsettled - released just weeks earlier - shows to be problematic at best. And unlike Wilson, Koonin is an actual climate scientist, one who worked at a high level under Barack Obama, no less. Instead, Wilson outright declares that it is the stuff of nightmares to think that any form of warming is natural, that man *must* be the cause of *all* warming and that we *must* thus be able to stop it.

These factors noted - and seriously, if you can't stomach a fatal dose of Marxist ideology, don't bother reading this book - the history presented here, even while presented fully rooted in anti-white, anti-capitalist screed form, is actually interesting and worthy of discovery by those who may not be aware of it, such as myself when going into this book. The road trip episodes that frame each section are interesting in and of themselves, as Wilson tags along with a friend who is buying up stockpiles of Freon American Pickers style in order to destroy them to claim the carbon credits under California's Cap and Trade system.

There is a compelling story to tell in the need for better ways to cool and comfort, and there are promising techs and strategies that don't rely on Marxism and government mandate to achieve them. Unfortunately this book ignores all of this.

Finally, the citations and bibliography... are minimal, for such fantastical claims, accounting for barely 15% of the text, and are rarely directly cited within the narrative itself.

It is because of all of these factors that I am quite comfortable with the 2* - without the history and road trip, it would have been half even that - and would be lower than even that, were such possible on review sites. Not recommended.