Bill Hooper wrote in USMA 18499: >There appears never to have been a "degree centigrade" in SI. when SI was >created, the absolute temperature scale was defined as degrees Kelvin (�K), >later modified to just "kelvins" (K) and the Celsius scale was named >"Celsius" and defined in terms of kelvins and the triple point of water. It >was established in such a way as to be identical* to the centigrade scale >already in existence (but never part of SI).
That is a question of when certain names became official. The name of the centigrade scale was "Celsius" in Germany and other European countries many years before the name was recognized by the CGPM in 1948. The mksA selection of base units for the metric system, proposed by Giuspppe Giorgi in 1901, was made officially by the CPGM in 1948, but it was not named SI (Syst�me international des poids et mesures) until 1960 > >*(Identical to the precision with which the freezing point of water at >normal atmosperic pressure and the triple point of water could be measured >at that time.) > >Bill Hooper That is a question of physics that was quite separate from the linguistic question. Joseph B.Reid 17 Glebe Road West Toronto M5P 1C8 TEL. 416-486-6071
