Thermal Insulation in Polar Huts

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Crowden, G. P.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1939
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400038869; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400038869

It is one of the characteristics of the human body in health that an even warmth is maintained in its tissues and organs irrespective of the external environment. Whether an individual is undergoing active muscular exercise or is resting, body temperature as measured by the mouth is relatively constant, varying slightly in either direction from the temperature of 98.4° F. The maintenance of such a thermostatic control of body temperature depends on a balance between the heat produced within the body and the heat lost to its external environment by radiation to the surroundings, convection and conduction to the air, and the evaporation of moisture in the sweat from the surface of the skin, and to a lesser extent of water from the lungs.