How did Fahrenheit and Celsius get their names?

How did Fahrenheit and Celsius get their names?

Both the Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature scales are named in honor of the pioneering scientists who developed them during the 18th century.

The Fahrenheit Scale

The Fahrenheit scale is named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736), a German-Dutch-Polish physicist, engineer, and glassblower. In 1724, Fahrenheit introduced the temperature scale that bears his name. He improved upon existing thermometers by using mercury instead of alcohol and establishing a more reproducible scale, originally anchored by the freezing point of a brine solution, body temperature, and the freezing point of water.

The Celsius Scale

The Celsius scale is named after Anders Celsius (1701–1744), a Swedish astronomer. In 1742, Celsius proposed a temperature scale with 100 degrees between the freezing point (100°) and the boiling point (0°) of water. Ironically, the scale was inverted shortly after his death—likely by botanist Carl Linnaeus—to the modern format where 0° represents freezing and 100° represents boiling. Originally known simply as the centigrade scale, it was officially renamed the Celsius scale in 1948 by international agreement to honor its original creator.