Editing Einstein refrigerator (section)

==History==
From 1926 until 1934 Einstein and Szilárd collaborated on ways to improve home [[refrigeration]] technology. The two were motivated by contemporary newspaper reports of a Berlin family who had been killed when a seal in their refrigerator failed and leaked toxic fumes into their home. Einstein and Szilárd proposed that a device without moving parts would eliminate the potential for seal failure, and explored practical applications for different [[refrigeration cycle]]s. Einstein had worked in the Swiss Patent Office, and used his experience to apply for valid patents for their inventions in several countries. The two were eventually granted 45 patents in six countries for three different models.<ref name=dannen/>

It has been suggested that most of the actual inventing was done by Szilárd, with Einstein merely acting as a consultant and helping with the patent-related paperwork,<ref name=dannen>{{cite journal
|last=Dannen
|first=Gene
|title=The Einstein–Szilard Refrigerators
|journal=[[Scientific American]]
|volume=276
|issue=1
|pages=90–95
|date=January 1997
|bibcode=1997SciAm.276a..90D
|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0197-90
|url=http://www.sciamdigital.com/gsp_qpdf.cfm?ISSUEID_CHAR=6E731865-2EE0-4A4F-9DE4-6702DA7E2AE&ARTICLEID_CHAR=2E0F4600-5E37-4953-A4D4-24BBC99F092
|access-date=2020-01-12
|archive-date=2013-02-01
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201193859/http://www.sciamdigital.com/gsp_qpdf.cfm?ISSUEID_CHAR=6E731865-2EE0-4A4F-9DE4-6702DA7E2AE&ARTICLEID_CHAR=2E0F4600-5E37-4953-A4D4-24BBC99F092
|url-status=unfit
|url-access=subscription
}}</ref> but others assert that Einstein contributed design work to the project.<ref name=SamKean>{{cite book |last1=Kean |first1=Sam |title=Caesar's Last Breath |date=2017 |publisher=Hachette |location=New York |isbn=9780316381635 |url=https://www.wired.com/story/einsteins-little-known-passion-project-a-refrigerator/ |access-date=24 July 2017}}</ref>

The refrigerator was less efficient than existing appliances, although having no moving parts made it more reliable; the introduction of [[Freon]] to replace refrigerant gases toxic to humans made it even less attractive commercially.<ref name=dannen/> The [[Great Depression]] of 1929 dried up funding for development, and the widespread political violence in [[Nazi Germany]], where the inventors lived, particularly towards Jews such as Einstein and Szilard, contributed to the device's lack of commercial success. (The inventors fled Germany in the early 1930s.)<ref name=bisno>{{cite web |title=The Einstein–Szilard Refrigerator |last=Bisno |first=Adam |work=Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, Smithsonian Museum |date=8 December 2020 |url=https://invention.si.edu/einstein-szilard-refrigerator}}</ref> It was not immediately put into commercial production, although the most promising of the patents were quickly bought up by the Swedish company [[Electrolux]]. Einstein and Szilárd earned $750 (the equivalent of $10,000 in 2017).<ref name=SamKean/> A few demonstration units were constructed from other patents.

One variant, the Einstein–Szilard electromagnetic refrigerator used a Einstein–Szilard [[electromagnetic pump]] to compress a [[working gas]], pentane.<ref name=dannen/> Although the refrigerator was not a commercial success, the Einstein–Szilard pump was later used for cooling [[breeder reactor]]s, where its inherent reliability and safety were important.<ref name=dannen/>

In 2008, electrical engineers at [[Oxford University|Oxford University's]] Energy and Power Group, part of the university's [[Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford|Department of Engineering Science]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Malcolm McCulloch - Profile |url=https://ae4h.org/.profile/mmcculloch3 |website=Affordable Energy for Humanity (AE4H) |publisher=University of Waterloo |access-date=12 November 2019 |archive-date=12 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112210254/https://ae4h.org/.profile/mmcculloch3 |url-status=dead }}</ref> revived the Einstein refrigerator as an attempt to produce a refrigerator suitable for use in rural areas without electricity.<ref name=go/> The group, led by Malcolm McCulloch noted that the design was still "nowhere near commercialised",<ref name=go/> but might allow the efficiency of the original Einstein–Szilárd design to be quadrupled.<ref>{{cite news |last=Alok |first=Jha |title=Einstein fridge design can help global cooling |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=21 September 2008 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/sep/21/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange |access-date=12 November 2019}}</ref>