That Warm and Fuzzy Feeling |
Posted: July 19, 2017 |
Staying warm is a human preoccupation. Our bodies run at a temperature around ninety-eight point six degrees Fahrenheit. Dip too far below, or too much over that, and we become sick, and eventually, die. Externally human beings can withstand an even greater range. Our bodies don't reach hypothermia until about fifty degrees Fahrenheit (sixty degrees if it's wet or windy, and seventy if you're in the water). We don't overheat unless our internal thermostat pushes past one-hundred two to one-hundred four degrees. Since exertion can achieve that result on even a warm day, external temperatures for overheating vary significantly. Regarding keeping cool, humans have always relied on fire. The fuel that burns the flame may have changed, but our species is as reliant as ever on that spark of light. Long before modern humans came into the picture, early humanoids conquered the use of fire. It occurred anywhere from four hundred thousand to a million years ago. True homo sapiens originated approximately two hundred thousand years later, which means human beings have always had control of fire. That power allowed human migration to extend across the planet. The species not only survived, it dominated, and now is the real master of the globe. People have found increasingly more efficient fuels in the quest for fire. Wood and kindling were the first choices, along with natural oils and animal fats. They held it until the industrial revolution produced needs. Coal and petroleum came to use in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Natural Gas and electricity followed in the nineteen hundred. Today wind and solar are becoming important power sources. Nuclear power is also a factor, though its use is hampered by a lack of adequate safeguards. In its constant effort to stay warm the human race has put fire to multiple uses. The first campfire extended quickly to become the hearth and the bonfire. The original fireplace allowed warmth to be brought into individual rooms and created a sense of privacy. Early on, civilized peoples used the furnace. It provided everything from warmth to cooking and allowed implement and weapons manufacturing. Though variations on the idea had been around for centuries, it wasn't until the twentieth century A.D. that the central furnace appeared. The first recorded patent was by a woman called Alice H. Parker. Her design never went into production, but other efforts soon followed. Today, furnace installation Denver is a ubiquitous part of modern home building and maintenance. Human beings have decided we will be warm, and we will have the means to do it.
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