There seem to be different versions of how Dr. Fahrenheit made up his scale. Here is one the supports the idea of using the climate for the zero point. http://www.weathernotebook.com/transcripts/1999/01/11.html But, it sounds like, from a brief search of the internet, there are multiple versions of how Fahrenheit made his scale. I notice there is a lot of chuckling in these online accounts over the confusion of deciding upon a scale. . People seem to think that making up a scale for a thermometer is a trivial thing, whereas, the scientific minds of Europe were really uncertain how to do it. I read my posted version years ago in some book or another. Who knows if the book was right? Joel
> On Tue, 1 Jan 2002 10:27:48 -0500 > Joel Hammer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> spewed into the bitstream: > > [snip] > > Which unit is more convenient for measuring air temperature, Fahrenheit > or > > Centigrade? > > Centigrade is based on the freezing and boiling points of water. Dr. > > Fahrenheit, on the other hand, traveled all over Europe and, using his > > device, set 100 to the hottest temperature normally expected and set 0 > to > > the lowest temperature normally expected, ie, the Fahrenheit scale was > > designed for a particular use, measuring air temperature. > > Ummm. Where'd you get this little bit of wisdom? I learned it this way: > _______________________________________________ Linux-users mailing list Archives, Digests, etc at http://linux.nf/mailman/listinfo/linux-users
