James Six of Canterbury is remembered for having invented in 1782 a thermometer showing the maximum and minimum temperatures reached in a given period of time. His invention, with few changes, is still in widespread domestic use. A book of his, entitled The construction and Use of a Thermometer for Shewing the Extremes of Temperature in the Atmosphere, during the Observer's Absence, together with Experiments and Variations of Local Heat; and other Meteorological Observations, was published posthumously (London, 1794).