Language
Country/Area
No result found
Ancient Thermometers: Why There Is No Clear Inventor in History?
A thermometer is an instrument used to measure the heat or coldness of an object, or a device that measures the rate of temperature change in a space. Although our understanding of thermometers is quite advanced today, tracing its history it is difficult to identify a clear inventor. This is because the development process of thermometers can be described as a long technological evolution that cannot be defined by a single person or event.
Ancient revelations
In ancient times, many principles of air and liquids provided inspiration for the later invention of thermometers. The earliest experiments can be traced back to Philo of Pisa in the 3rd century BC. His experiment involved a tube immersed in a liquid. When the gas expanded when heated, the gas pushed the liquid out, which laid the foundation for the principle of temperature measurement. Base.
"Philo's experiment showed how hot gases affect changes in a liquid, a very preliminary form of temperature measurement."
Important figures in history
As time went on, many scientists contributed to the development of the thermometer. In his writings, Hero documented how heat from the sun was used to drive water, similar to the principle of thermal expansion found in later thermometers. In Rome, the doctor Galen innovatively proposed the concept that "heat and cold can be measured in degrees", which laid the foundation for the subsequent construction of thermometers.
Progress during the Renaissance
In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, scientists such as Galileo Galilei and Santorio invented devices containing air-filled glass spheres and observed changes in the height of the water column to infer the heat of the surrounding environment. These instruments are called "heat sensors" and they indicate changes in heat, but do not have a standardized numerical scale.
"Thermal sensors are instruments that indicate changes in heat, but they are not yet standardized, that is, they mark comparable values."
The evolution of the thermometer
Over time, various new liquid thermometers have appeared, and their designs have gradually achieved higher reliability and accuracy. Although the earliest thermometers were developed based on the principle of liquid expansion, as technology advanced, scientists began to calibrate more precise temperature scales. For example, the introduction of the Fahrenheit thermometer and the Celsius thermometer marked a qualitative change in thermometers.
Challenges of standardization
Early thermometers had common standardization problems. Scientists explore how to establish fixed reference points to ensure the comparability of measurement data. These efforts led to the later use of standards such as fixing the melting point of ice-water mixtures, establishing a more scientific measurement method.
“Standardized measures are crucial to the accuracy of measurements, which became the basis for later inventions.”
Advances in modern thermometers
After entering the 18th century, Daniel Gabriel Warfitt invented a reliable mercury thermometer and proposed a new thermometer based on mercury. This improvement brought the accuracy of temperature measurement to a new level. peak. In the subsequent time, various measurement technologies have continued to advance, and the use of thermometers has become indispensable whether in the physiological, industrial or meteorological fields.
Conclusion
In summary, the history of thermometers is a technological evolution process jointly constructed by many scientists, and lacks a fixed inventor and invention time. This also reflects the universal and evolving nature of scientific progress. So, as new technologies continue to emerge, how will temperature measurement develop in the future?
