Gabriel Fahrenheit

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Gabriel Fahrenheit
Born 24 May 1686
Danzig (Gdańsk), Poland
Died 16 September 1736
The Hague, Netherlands
Citizenship Polish
Nationality German
Fields physics
Known for Fahrenheit

Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (24 May 1686 – 16 September 1736) was a German physicist and engineer who worked most of his life in the Dutch Republic. The Fahrenheit (°F) temperature scale is named after him.

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[edit] Biography

Fahrenheit was born in 1686 in the city of Danzig (Gdańsk), Poland[1][2][3]. (Years later, when becoming member of Royal Society, Gabriel signed himself as Fahrenheit Polonus, believing himself to be citizen of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth[4]). The Fahrenheits were a merchant family who had moved from one Hanseatic League city to the other. Fahrenheit's great-grandfather had lived in Rostock, and research suggests that the Fahrenheit family originated in Hildesheim.[5]. Fahrenheit's family often moved between various European states. Fahrenheit's great-grandfather had lived in Rostock, although research suggests that the Fahrenheit family originated in Hildesheim.[6] Daniel's grandfather Reinhold Fahrenheit moved from Kneiphof (in Königsberg) to Danzig and settled there as a merchant in 1650. Father Daniel Fahrenheit married Concordia (widowed name, Runge), daughter of the well-known Danzig business family of Schumann. Daniel Gabriel was the eldest of the five Fahrenheit children who survived childhood (two sons, three daughters). By widespread trading, Reinhold Friedrich Fahrenheid (1703-1781) became the richest man in eastern Prussia.[7]

Upon the accidental early death of his parents, by consumption of poisonous mushrooms in 1702, sixteen-year-old Gabriel had to take up business training as a merchant in Amsterdam. However, his interest in natural sciences caused him to take up studies and experimentation in that field. From 1707 onwards, he travelled to Berlin, Halle, Leipzig, Dresden, Kopenhagen, and also to his home town. During that time, Fahrenheit met or was in contact with Ole Rømer, Christian Wolff, Gottfried Leibniz. He settled 1717 in The Hague with the trade of glassblowing, making barometers, altimeters, and thermometers. From 1718 onwards, he gave lectures in chemistry in Amsterdam, and became a member of the Royal Society in 1724. Fahrenheit died in The Hague.

[edit] Fahrenheit scale

Main article: Fahrenheit

According to Fahrenheit himself in an article he wrote in 1724,[8] he determined his scale by reference to three fixed points of temperature. The zero point is determined by placing the thermometer in a mixture of ice, water, and ammonium chloride, a salt. This is a type of frigorific mixture. The mixture automatically stabilizes its temperature at 0 °F. He then put an alcohol or mercury thermometer into the mixture and let the liquid in the thermometer descend to its lowest point. The second point is the 32nd degree found by putting the thermometer in still water as ice is just forming on the surface.[9] His third point, the 96th degree, was the level of the liquid in the thermometer when held in the mouth or under the armpit. Fahrenheit noted that, using this scale, mercury boils at around 600 degrees. Later work by other scientists observed that water boils about 180 degrees higher than the freezing point and decided to redefine the degree slightly to make it exactly 180[8]. It is for this reason that normal body temperature is 98.6 on the revised scale (whereas it was 96 on his original scale).[10]

The Fahrenheit scale was widely used in Europe until the switch to the degree Celsius scale. It is still used for everyday temperature measurements by the general population in the United States and less so in the UK.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories 1991 page 166 Fahrenheit Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit was born in 1686 in Gdansk, Poland, of German parents. [1]
  2. ^ Science of Earth Systems 266 Stephen D. Butz - 2002 Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit was born in Poland in 1686 - the Fahrenheit scale, which was introduced in 1714 by the German scientist Gabriel Fahrenheit. p. 264 [2]
  3. ^ The Engines of Our Ingenuity: An Engineer Looks at Technology and Culture page 161 author John H. Lienhard - 2003 Fahrenheit was born in the Polish city of Gdansk in 1686
  4. ^ Article (in Polish) by Andrzej Staruszkiewicz
  5. ^ Horst Kant, G.D. Fahrenheit / R.-A.F. de Réaumur / A. Celsius, 1984.
  6. ^ Horst Kant, G.D. Fahrenheit / R.-A.F. de Réaumur / A. Celsius, 1984.
  7. ^ Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB), vol. 4, Berlin 1959, p. 746 [3]
  8. ^ a b Fahrenheit temperature scale. Sizes, Inc (2006-12-10). Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
  9. ^ Heath, Jonathan. Why does the Fahrenheit scale use 32 degrees as a freezing point?. PhysLink. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
  10. ^ Elert, Glenn, Temperature of a Healthy Human (Body Temperature), <http://hypertextbook.com/facts/LenaWong.shtml>. Retrieved on 4 December 2008 

[edit] Further reading

Persondata
NAME Fahrenheit, Daniel Gabriel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Physicist
DATE OF BIRTH 24 May 1686
PLACE OF BIRTH Gdansk
DATE OF DEATH 16 September 1736
PLACE OF DEATH The Hague, Netherlands