Thermometer

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This thermometer was made around 1665 by the Accademia del Cimento in Florence in Italy. One of a group of original 17th-century instruments discovered in 1828, it was given to J. D. Forbes, Professor of Natural Philosophy in Edinburgh, in 1833.

The instrument is calibrated from 1 to 50 degrees on the so-called Florentine scale by black and white glass beads fused to the stem. The liquid it contains is spirit.

The Accademia del Cimento - the 'Academy of experiments' - was one of the earliest scientific societies. It met in Florence between 1657 and 1667. It avoided work on astronomical topics because this raised controversial issues in the Catholic church.

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• Online ID: 000-100-102-733-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  T.1975.62
• Date: Around 1665
  c. 1660
  
• Material:
• Dimensions:
• What:
• Subject: 22. PHYSICS, Heat (Departmental Classification)
  
• Who: Accademia del Cimento, Florence (Maker)
  Professor Forbes (Owner)
  
• Where: Italy, Florence
  
• Event:
• Description: Spirit thermometer, 1 - 50 degrees Florentine, made by members of the Accademia del Cimento, Florence, Italy, c. 1660
  
• References:
  • For the surviving glassware of the Accademia del Cimento, see Miniati, Mara, Museo di Storia della Scienza [Firenze] Catalogo, Florence: 1991, pp 132-47 
  • Middleton, Knowles, A History of the Thermometer and its uses in Meteorology. Baltimore, Maryland: 1966, pp 32-5 
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