The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1915-03-18
IFAHRENnElf AND
-fs- Ms THERMOMETER

Fahrenheit was born at Dantzig
in North Germany. The date Of
his birth is not known, nor has
any one been able to determine
just when he made the discovery
that produced the thermometer.
Through fondness for mechan-
les and chemistry, Fahrenheit ne
elected his regular business to the
extent that he failed, and in his
dire need he turned to invention
in order to gain livelihood.
Before the Seventeenth Century
men could only Judge of the
amount of heat prevailing at any
place by their personal sensa-
tions. They could only speak of
the weather as hot, or very hot, as
cold, or very cold. In that century
there were several attempts made,
by tubes containing oil, spirits of
wine and other substances, to es-
tablish a satisfactory means of
measuring heat: but none of
them could be considered as very
successful, although both HALEY
and Newton applied their great
minds to the subject. 1t was re-
served for an obscure and poor
man to give us the instrument
which has since been found SO
specially serviceable for this
purpose.
Fahrenheit first made his ther-
mometers with spirits of wine,
but ere long became convinced
that mercury was a more suitable
article to be put into the tube.
About the same time he found
Dantzig a narrow field for his
business and removed to Amster-
dam. It was about the year 1920
that Fahrenheit completed the
arrangements for a mercury
thermometer, very much as it has
ever since been fashioned. His
instruments were speedily spread
throughout the world, everywhere
carrying his name along with
them. The basis of the plan of the
inventor was to mark on the time
the two points at which. respec-
lively. water was CONCEALED and
boiled, and to graduate the space
between. We are not told wheth-
er Fahrenheit's instrument
brought him fortune. That was
before the day of patents and ex-
plotting monopolies. But perhaps
he had the consolation of knowing
that his name would go down to
posterity, for his invention was Sc
useful that it rapidly passed into
all the civilized countries of the
world.
The basis of Fahrenheit's sys-
tenn of measurement, though moi
strictly scientific as judged by oul
present day standards, is ex-
. tremely simple and based on IA
miliar facts. He marked his space
into $50 equal parts. For, certain
reasons he called the lower poin4
80 degrees, making the higher
2f2 degrees. Other systems of no.
tations have been employed, sucl
as the Centigrade, suggested b!
Clesius of Stockholm, and the
Reaumer, named after it's French
inventor and used in France, but
the Fahrenheit is that with which
we are most familiar and which
has continued to be used. to the
present time, throughout the Eng
disappearing world.
The Arctic voyagers of recent
years have all persisted in de-
scribing certain low temperatures
as below zero of Fahrenheit, the
said degrees Of temperature be-
ing such as the Amsterdam Their
mometer-maker never dreamed
of, as being part of the existing
system of things.
Fahrenheit also invented an
improved form of hygrometer. 4
description Of which, together
with accounts of various observa-
tions and experiments made by
him. was published in 1924. He
died in Holland on the 10th day OF
ISanfanohop ir96