Thermometers

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Bob Murphy has noted how interesting the evolution of the meaning of a second has been.

But have you ever thought about the effort that went in to devising a thermometer? To make a thermometer, one has to devise something that responds uniformly to uniform changes in temperature.

But... how do you know when you have a uniform change in temperature without having a thermometer already?!

Comments

  1. Jesús P. Zamora Bonilla5:14 AM

    "Inventing temperature", Hasok Chang
    http://www.amazon.com/Inventing-Temperature-Measurement-Scientific-Philosophy/dp/0195337387

    ReplyDelete

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