Ezra wrote in USMA 18553 >Given what Gene wrote, it looks to me like the use of the Celsius scale is >quite similar to the use of the liter, in that both are defined in terms of an >SI unit, are not themselves units, and are kept mostly for reasons of history >and convenience than anything else. > >Ezra
There are not, nor never have been, two centigrade or Celsius temperature scales. The definition of the centigrade scale was made more precise in 1948, and at the same time the official name of the scale was changed from centigrade to the widely used name of Celsius. The first change was a matter of physics; the second change was merely linguistic and in no way affected the scale itself. The changes in the litre were more fundamental in that the size of the litre was changed twice. It was not merely a change for more precise definition. Joseph B.Reid 17 Glebe Road West Toronto M5P 1C8 TEL. 416-486-6071
