History Of Zero

" Z'.'ry." on the ooBBioii thenaooMter, like the fanciful name of the emntelU tions, is a otlrious nstanee ut' the way wiso mens errors are made iniumrtal ly bi ing popular, lt ïiKiv !" wurtli wl.ile to say that the word itelt mes to us tbrougli thoSpanish froni the Arabio, aml lueans eiupty ; liencc, BOtbiog. In expreseiions liko "Ou Phr.," the alri-vi ition Fahr. tUodl tor J'ahrenheit, a Prat sian merchunt of lUntzio, oi tho Balti Sea. H'ií í'ull natte ni Gabriel Panic Pabrenheit. I'rom a boy he was a close obserrer (i nature, and when only otneteen yeara oíd in the remarksblo oold winter of 1709, li ex$eriinentol by putting anow and salt to ether, and notuvd that it produoed ; degree of' cold equal tu t lie eoldent day o the year, and that day was the coldeiM tha the oldest inhabitaot could remenit)Pr. (a briel was the more truck wilh tlu; coinci dence of tliis lidie ncientific discovery, im hastily concluded tliat he had found thc lowest degree of temperatura koown nth world, either mtural u artificial. lli called the degree .er, attd comtructed ; thermometer, or rude wcather gla witli ; icale graduatint; l'rotii ïero t" boiling point which he nuuibered 212, and th rreMÍoi point becanae, u he thooht, mereary eontracted the S2a of i is volume on being eooled dowa trom rlio tcinpcraturc of (net ing water to zero and expanded ISOth 01 being heatcd froui the fm-cing to the boil ing point. Tiuiesliowad Lh;it thitanaage ment, infltead of l'i'ini truly scientifio, w a arbitrary bh the divir-ion of the Bibli into vcrao and chaptcrü, and llial thcsi two rm more representod t lic rea extremes ot' temperatura, tlian " fron [hu to BeersheKa" expresscd t lic eiaii extremes of Palaetioe. lut Fahreobëit'e thermoaieter had heen wi'lcly adopted withitsincüiiveniont POl,aadnoDethoughl of any bettor until Dame becamfl u auihority, for Fahrenheit linallyabandcinci] trade and gave himaelfup to scienoe. The threc couatries whiüh uw Fahrenlioit are Kopland, .llulland anl Aiucrica. Russia and Girrnuny usc Keaumur's thermoineter, in whieh 1 1 1 - lioilin? point is counted 80 above thefreexingpoiot Fraooe um the Cesttuade thermometer, o {-allod hfMTiij1 li uarka the boiling poinl lOOdegreee trun the Oreeziiig point. )n raany accounts the oeatrigrade system i the best, and t lic triuoiph of' oonvenieooe will bo attaincd when Itero is maée the treezing point, and whon the boiltng point is put 100 or 1000 degreei from it, and :ill the subdivison'' are fixcd decimally. II Fahrenheit had done this first, or il he had made it one of his iiiiprovenicnts il'ter tlic public had adoptrd his error, the lack of' opportunity, wbich wa roally In--, would have secured to hi iiivotition tbc patronif' the world.