John Gorrie (medic)

Statue of John Gorrie in the Washington Capitol

John Gorrie (born October 3, 1802 on Nevis ; † June 29, 1855 ) was a Scottish doctor and scientist and the inventor of the first cold air machine for cooling rooms.

Gorrie's parents were from Scotland. He spent his childhood in South Carolina and later received his medical training at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Fairfield , New York. In 1833 he went to the port city of Apalachicola in Florida , where he worked as a doctor at two hospitals and alternately engaged in various offices, e. B. as postmaster and bank president.

He studied tropical diseases . At the time, miasma (toxic fumes) was a common hypothesis. When a yellow fever epidemic broke out , he urged the moors to be drained and the hospital rooms to be cooled. To do this, he first used ice hung from the ceiling. But since ice had to be brought by ship from the northern lakes, he experimented with artificial ice. In 1845 he gave up his medical practice to focus on his cooling project. On May 6, 1851, he received US Patent 8080 for his ice cream maker . He developed the system of the refrigerator (by Jacob Perkins) further. Impoverished, he tried to raise money to build the machine, but the company failed when his partner died. Mocked by critics, financially ruined and ill health, Gorrie passed away on June 29, 1855 in seclusion.

Commemoration

The city of Apalachicola is now home to the John Gorrie Museum State Park . There is also a statue of him in the Washington Capitol.

Web links

• explore capitol hill: John Gorrie
• Minna Scherlinder Morse: Chilly Reception . Smithsonian magazine, July 2002.