Human thermal environments: The effects of hot, moderate and cold environments on human health—comfort and performance: The principles and the practice: K.C. Parsons, Taylor & Francis, 359 p.
✍ Scribed by J. Malchaire
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1994
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 160 KB
- Volume
- 18
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0925-7535
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✦ Synopsis
Human Thermal Environments: The effects of hot, moderate and cold environments on human health -comfort and performance: The principles and the practice K.C. Parsons, Taylor & Francis, 359 p.
The book includes 12 chapters of about the same size, an annex, a computer programme, some 350 references, a list of symbols and a well prepared index. The presentation is clear, graphs and tables well prepared.
Chapter 1, entitled "Human thermal environment", provides definitions of the basic climatic parameters and introduces the heat balance equation for the human body. A lot of formulas are presented, from very basic ones (as to convert degrees Fahrenheit to degrees Celcius), to very sophisticated ones (such as the ASHRAE equation for the evaporative heat loss from the skin). This first chapter seems to indicate that the author did not intend to write a textbook introducing, explaining and analyzing progressively the different concepts, but took the option of writing rather a handbook addressed mainly to those familiar already with the subject and interested in finding the different equations.
Chapters 2 and 3 present different models of human thermoregulation, and of behavioral responses, in the same way.
Chapter 4 is devoted to measurement methods for the climatic parameters as well as for the physiological parameters. While extensive details are given, for instance for the equilibrium temperature of a spherical sensor, some information concerning, among other things, the natural wet bulb temperature (used in the WBGT index) is missing. Reference is made to the Katathermometer but little is said concerning the proper way of using the psychrometer. This underlines the limitations of this chapter which, instead of describing methods of measurement, provides the relevant formulas and presents briefly some instruments. The section on measurement of psychological responses appears to be more balanced.
Chapter 5, "Metabolic heat production", describes rather specialized techniques (indirect calorimetry) but does not provide the tables of metabolisms one needs in practice. The section on task and activity analysis methods describes too briefly a methodology to assess the metabolic rate at a workplace.
Chapter 6 concerns the thermal properties of clothing and is more sophisticated, providing the different ways of predicting the dry thermal insulation and the resistance to vapour transfer. The pumping effect is mentioned but protection against radiation is omitted.
Chapters 7, 8 and 9 are devoted to thermal comfort, heat stress and cold stress. After a short introduction and some description of the physiological effects, they consist mainly of the presentation one after the other of the main indices, including the historical P4SR. The section on the WBGT index is very short in view of its widespread use.
Chapter 10 is devoted to the interference of the climatic environment with ac-