🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan12.150027.13866@kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca> DMARTIN@vm.ucs.UAlberta.CA writes:
>> From: mcp@netcom.com (Craig Presnell)
>> equally dividing the points in between. Apparently Farenheit had the
>> same idea, but wanted something colder to be 0 degress, so alcohol
>> and ice were used. The question is, what was used to determine the
>> upper end of the scale ?
>
>Body temperature, or so I understand. With a "normal" body temperature of
>98.6, calling it 100 isn't that far off.

From _A History of Chemistry_ by J.R. Partington, Vol. 2, p. 747:

  Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (Danzig, 14 May 1686 - in Holland, 16
  September 1736) was the first to produce consistently reading
  thermometers, first filled with spirit of wine, later with mercury
  (1714-15), and introduced a temperature scale.  In 1724 he gave
  the freezing point of water as 32', the boiling-point at 28 in.
  mercury pressure 212', the body temperature 96', and 0' the
  temperature of a mixture of ice, water, and sal ammoniac or
  common salt...

Joel Polowin
polowin@silicon.chem.queensu.ca, polowin@chem.queensu.ca,
polowinj@qucdn.queensu.ca

DMARTIN@vm.ucs.UAlberta.CA (DMARTIN@vm.ucs.UAlberta.CA) wrote:
: Body temperature, or so I understand. With a "normal" body temperature of
: 98.6, calling it 100 isn't that far off.
:                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You wouldn't say that if your body temperature was consistently 100. 
;-)
--
                                                         Chris Hudel
business: hudel@waterloo.hp.com                         519/883-3080
pleasure: chudel@watarts.uwaterloo.ca             
(Pleasure forwards to business...)       - all comments are mine, not HP's - 

In article <C0r1Jw.FJB@knot.ccs.queensu.ca> polowin@chem.queensu.ca (Joel Polowin) writes:
>In article <1993Jan12.150027.13866@kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca> DMARTIN@vm.ucs.UAlberta.CA writes:
>>> From: mcp@netcom.com (Craig Presnell)
>>> equally dividing the points in between. Apparently Farenheit had the
>>> same idea, but wanted something colder to be 0 degress, so alcohol
>>> and ice were used. The question is, what was used to determine the
>>> upper end of the scale ?
>>
>>Body temperature, or so I understand. With a "normal" body temperature of
>>98.6, calling it 100 isn't that far off.
>
>From _A History of Chemistry_ by J.R. Partington, Vol. 2, p. 747:
>  the freezing point of water as 32', the boiling-point at 28 in.
>  mercury pressure 212', the body temperature 96', and 0' the
>  temperature of a mixture of ice, water, and sal ammoniac or
>  common salt...

It's actually not very complicated. Fahrenheit set the freezing point
at the zero for his "cold solution," found that the freezing point of
water was 32 degrees above that, and then added 180 degrees (a nice,
easily-factorable number) to it before reaching the boiling point of water.

At least, this was always my impression.

      :=:=> Derek K. Miller                 dkmiller@unixg.ubc.ca
      Researcher, Alma Mater Society        thegrodd@tz.ucs.sfu.ca
      Room 230B - 6138 SUB Blvd., Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z1
      Campus Mail Zone 1  phone (604) 822-6868  fax (604) 822-9019
      University of British Columbia, Canada

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In article <1993Jan12.150027.13866@kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca>, DMARTIN@vm.ucs.UAlberta.CA writes:
>> From: mcp@netcom.com (Craig Presnell)
>> equally dividing the points in between. Apparently Farenheit had the
>> same idea, but wanted something colder to be 0 degress, so alcohol
>> and ice were used. The question is, what was used to determine the
>> upper end of the scale ?
>
>Body temperature, or so I understand. With a "normal" body temperature of
>98.6, calling it 100 isn't that far off.

The story I'd heard was that the lower limit, at zero, was a mixture 
of ice, water and salt (brine), and the upper limit (at 8 dozen
degrees -- 96) was "the temperature of healthy Englishman, taken
in the armpit." (Armpit temperatures are about 1 degree F lower than
oral, which are about 1 degree F lower than rectal). I think there may 
have been some adjustments later when it was discovered that the 
freezing and boiling point of water were almost exactly 180 degrees
different.