Six's maximum-minimum thermometer
Termómetro de máxima y mínima de Six
- Date
- 1780 · confidence medium
- Place
- Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- James Six
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
A U-shaped thermometer of alcohol and mercury that pushes two steel indices, one to the maximum and one to the minimum temperature reached since the last reading. It made it possible to record extremes without continuous watching, and it is still used in meteorology.
Six described the instrument in 1782 in 'The Construction and Use of a Thermometer'; he had devised it in 1780. With modifications it became the standard maximum-minimum thermometer.
What it led to
- recording of extreme temperatures at weather stations
- greenhouse and soil thermometers
- climate data series comparable across stations