Fahrenheit, GABRIEL DANIEL, the improver of the thermometer and barometer, was born at
Danzig, 14th May 1686. He was originally destined for a commercial career, but he early abandoned trade for natural philosophy, and, after travelling through Germany and England, settled in Holland. About 1714 he conceived the idea of using quicksilver instead of spirits of wine in the construction of thermometers, by means of which the accuracy of the instrument was very much improved (see THERMOMETER). He fixed his freezing-point at 32° to avoid negative measurements. In 1724 Fahrenheit was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London; and the Philosophical Transactions of that year contain several papers by him on points in natural philosophy. He died 16th September 1736.