ABSTRACT
Around 1654, Ferdinand II ofTuscany, of the Medici family, filled a glass tube with colored alcohol and sealed it by melting the tip. The closed instru ment was graduated by degrees marked on the stem. This was the first ther mometer independent of atmospheric pressure. Ferdinand and his brother Leopold formed a society in 1657, the Academia del Cimento, consisting of nine members, mostly students of Galileo and a few foreign correspondents, for research and to serve as a sanctuary for scientists. The academy met in Florence at the palace of Leopold, who also presided. Five thermometers were developed by the academy. Wine was used rather than water as an expansion fluid because it is “sooner sensible of the least change of heat and cold, and does not freeze in extreme cold”. Florentine thermometers became
Vital Signs and Resuscitation, by Joseph V. Stewart. ©2003 Landes Bioscience.
