The Days Before Air Conditioning

About this episode

Fiona Williamson discusses how people in Singapore managed heat before air conditioning and the implications of weather science in colonial times.

Before air conditioning was introduced in Singapore in the 1920s, temperature control was a matter of architectural design. Environmental historian Fiona Williamson tells us how people kept themselves cool before air conditioning arrived, why weather science was important to the colonial enterprise, and what environmental history can tell us about a city’s development. Fiona Williamson is an environmental historian with a particular interest in the history of the climate, meteorology and extreme weather in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. She is professor of environmental history at the Singapore Management University. What Fiona Talked About 03:12 – How people kept cool before air conditioning 05:49 – When and how air conditioning was introduced to Singapore 07:53 – Who could afford early air conditioning 10:19 – European reactions to tropical heat 12:51 – Meteorology as a colonial science 15:31 – Observational stations and instruments 18:07 – Colonial attempts to manage water and flooding 23:15 – The MacRitchie Reservoir mistake 28:03 – Fiona’s book Imperial Weather 34:19 – Fiona's work with the International Commission for the History of Meteorology 36:52 – Climate history…

People in this episode

Guest: Fiona Williamson

Topics covered

• air conditioning
• environmental history
• colonial science
• temperature control
• meteorology
• urban development

Keywords

• air conditioning
• Singapore
• colonial history
• meteorology
• environmental history
• climate change
• temperature control

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Singapore Management University

Books & works: Imperial Weather

Places: Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong

More episodes of BiblioAsia Podcast

• The Italian Merchant and Lexicographer Who Once Owned Pulau Bukom · April 9, 2026 · 24 min
• Changing Times: Time Zone Changes in Singapore since 1905 · March 5, 2026 · 47 min
• The First Local to Head the National Library: Hedwig Anuar · February 5, 2026 · 40 min
• The Civil Servant in Charge of Clean and Green Singapore, Lee Ek Tieng · January 1, 2026 · 40 min
• Searching for Family in the Shadows of War · November 6, 2025 · 38 min
• Negotiating OB Markers When Running the Straits Times · October 2, 2025 · 40 min