How did Fahrenheit determine his scale?
The Fahrenheit scale, which measures temperature, was created by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736), a German-Dutch scientist, in 1724. Fahrenheit, who devoted much of his life’s work to the measurement of temperature, also invented the alcohol and mercury thermometers. On the Fahrenheit scale, the point at which frozen water melts is 32°, and the point where at which it boils is 212°. Between these two points is exactly 180°, a number easily divisible on a thermostat. Although we know with a degree of certainty what measurements Fahrenheit used to determine his scale, his process of arriving at the final scale is largely unknown. Several stories have circulated regarding how Fahrenheit devised his scale. One is that he established 0° as the coldest temperature he could measure outdoors during the winter of 1708 to 1709 in Danzig, Germany. This measurement and Fahrenheit’s own body temperature, which he measured at 100°, were the two marks on which he based the rest of his scale. Ma
