Gabriel Fahrenheit

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Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (born May 24, 1686 in Danzig (Gdańsk); died September 16, 1736 in The Hague, Netherlands) was a German physicist and engineer, born into a German-speaking family, who worked most of his life in the Netherlands. The °F Fahrenheit scale of temperature is named after him.

Fahrenheit was born in Danzig where the Fahrenheits had moved to in 1650. He was the son of merchant Daniel Fahrenheit and Concordia Fahrenheit (widowed name, Runge), daughter of the well-known Danzig business family of Schumann. Daniel was the eldest of the five Fahrenheit children who survived childhood (two sons, three daughters). Daniel's grandfather Reinhold Fahrenheit vom Kneiphof had moved to Danzig from Königsberg and settled as a merchant. Research suggests that the Fahrenheit family originated in Hildesheim, although they lived in Rostock before moving to Königsberg.<ref>Horst Kant, G.D. Fahrenheit / R.-A.F. de Réaumur / A. Celsius, 1984.</ref>

Upon the accidental early death of his parents, caused by consumption of poisonous mushrooms, Gabriel had to take up business training. However, his interest in natural sciences caused him to take up studies and experimentation in that field. Fahrenheit's studies brought him to Amsterdam, where he gave lectures in chemistry. In 1724, he became a member of the Royal Society.

Fahrenheit developed precise thermometers. The Fahrenheit scale was widely used in Europe until the switch to the Celsius scale. It is still used for everyday temperature measurements by the general population in the United States and Jamaica.

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Fahrenheit scale

Fahrenheit filled his first thermometers with alcohol before using mercury, which gave better results. The coldest temperature attainable under laboratory conditions at that time, using a mixture of water, salt and ice, was defined by him as 0°F. The body temperature of a healthy horse was defined as 100°F.

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