# Fahrenheit...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fahrenheit/434836>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [January 24, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fahrenheit/434836 "2008-01-24T17:51:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![harrypri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@harrypri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harrypri)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fahrenheit/434836/1 "2008-01-24T17:51:05Z")

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“Old man” Fahrenheit???

He died at 50! He never got anywhere near to being an “old man”… 😃

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**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fahrenheit/434836/2 "2008-01-24T18:24:40Z")

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[The column in question](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_188.html)

OK, so did anyone ever discern a reason that the Celsius (or Centigrade, if you prefer) scale was originally created upside down?

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fahrenheit/434836/3 "2008-01-24T21:31:42Z")

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[QUOTE=Running with Scissors]  
OK, so did anyone ever discern a reason that the Celsius (or Centigrade, if you prefer) scale was originally created upside down?  
[/QUOTE]  
Celsius did his work long before Charles, Gay-Lussac, or Joule did their fundamental work on the nature of heat. At the time, it made as much sense to put an essentially arbitrary scale one way as the other.

The ancient Greeks spoke of “high” and “low” musical notes, and meant the opposite of what we do.

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**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fahrenheit/434836/4 "2008-01-24T22:08:59Z")

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[QUOTE=Running with Scissors]  
[The column in question](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_188.html)

OK, so did anyone ever discern a reason that the Celsius (or Centigrade, if you prefer) scale was originally created upside down?  
[/QUOTE]

According to Wikipedia, Celsius did a lot of work relating to the boiling point of water at different pressures, so it makes sense that to him, water’s boiling point should be zero. Makes the math easier anyway.