Centigrade hasn't been correct for several decades. Celsius is correct, but only if you spell it with a capital C. Note that Celsius in not a unit, but a qualifier for degree. That's why it isn't bound by the rule that says units are never capitalized, even when they are named after a person.
Obviously, the officially preferred SI unit is K, for kelvin, which differs from degrees Celsius only in the zero point of the scale. Celsius is preferred for everyday use, because of the everyday and very familiar origins of 0 degrees Celsius and 100 degrees Celsius. 0 degrees Celsius is no longer defined as the temperature of a pure ice/water mix, but as 273.15 K. (Of course, that definition doesn't stop it from still being the temperature of a pure ice/water mix.) Bill Potts, CMS Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] >-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Behalf Of Predrag Lezaic >Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2004 14:32 >To: U.S. Metric Association >Cc: U.S. Metric Association >Subject: [USMA:29105] Re: Temperature > > >Hi Pat, is it correct to say centigrade or celsius in English? > >Predrag > >Pat Naughtin wrote: > >>Dear Ezra and All, >> >>I guess that I converted 2 degrees centigrade to degrees >Fahrenheit without >>considering the minus sign before the 2. >> >>I expect that you might do the same thing when it has been twenty or more >>years since you've seen the word Fahrenheit, and more than thirty years >>since you've seen the word centigrade. And maybe much longer since you've >>done a conversion between the two of them. >> >>Cheers, >> >>Pat Naughtin LCAMS >>Geelong, Australia >> >> >
