The Story of Temperature Scales

Each temperature scale tells a fascinating story, born from the minds of scientists trying to quantify the world. Understanding their origins makes them much easier to grasp.

Anders Celsius (1701-1744)

The Swedish astronomer created a simple, logic-based scale. He defined 0°C as the freezing point of water and 100°C as its boiling point, aligning perfectly with the metric system's decimal nature.

Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736)

The German physicist based his scale on three reference points: 0°F for a freezing brine solution, 32°F for freezing water, and originally ~96°F for human body temperature. This is why its numbers seem less intuitive today but were practical for his time.

Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)

A brilliant British scientist who saw the need for a scale based on fundamental physics. The Kelvin scale starts at absolute zero (0 K), the theoretical point where all molecular motion ceases. Because it's an absolute measure, Kelvin doesn't use the "degree" symbol.