Willis Carrier did not set out to invent air conditioning so people could escape the summer heat. In 1902, the 25-year-old engineer working for Buffalo Forge Company was trying to solve a humidity problem at a printing plant in Brooklyn, New York. Changes in moisture were affecting the paper and ink used for colour printing, making it difficult for the company to produce consistent results.
The problem emerged at the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company, where paper expanded and contracted as humidity levels changed. That movement made it harder to align different colours on the same sheet, while excess moisture also interfered with the ink. For the printing company, controlling humidity was therefore a production necessity rather than simply a matter of workplace comfort.
