Fahrenheit is actually a base-ten system, where 0° was the freezing temperature of a salt/water mixture used in laboratories in the 18th century, and 100° was supposed to be a human’s blood temperature. Another convenient perk of the fahrenheit system is that most European weather occurs inside it’s 0-100 range.
Eventually Fahrenheit saw the scientific need to know the freezing and boiling point of plain water, but instead of adjusting his system, he just found those values within his system.
The story I heard, and I don’t know if this is true or not, is that 100 isn’t just a human’s blood temperature, but specifically Mrs. Fahrenheit’s blood temperature.
I’ve always been curious why 32 was chosen for the freezing point of water in Fahrenheit. or was there something else and did that just land at 32?
it’s kind of a mystery and i love it
Fahrenheit is actually a base-ten system, where 0° was the freezing temperature of a salt/water mixture used in laboratories in the 18th century, and 100° was supposed to be a human’s blood temperature. Another convenient perk of the fahrenheit system is that most European weather occurs inside it’s 0-100 range.
Eventually Fahrenheit saw the scientific need to know the freezing and boiling point of plain water, but instead of adjusting his system, he just found those values within his system.
The story I heard, and I don’t know if this is true or not, is that 100 isn’t just a human’s blood temperature, but specifically Mrs. Fahrenheit’s blood temperature.