Scientist who travelled the world in a container to study cold storage

© David Tulchinsky | Dreamstime.com - Maersk shipping container, truck

From Quartz comes this fascinating account of Barbara Pratt, the American scientist widely credited as the brains behind Maersk’s reefer technology. Long before the days of remote container management, Ms Pratt, housed in a converted container, travelled the world on the company’s vessels analysing what happened to perishable goods while in transit. “The laboratory we built was three different compartments: it had what we called an engine room, where we had a diesel fuel tank, a diesel generator for power, a water tank, a hot water heater… We had a laboratory section, which was in the middle and had your typical equipment, but it also had things like a gas chromatograph, a computer, a fume hood and a microscope — those types of things. And then we had an office section, which had bunk beds and a couple of desks and cabinets, a microwave and a refrigerator.”