Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit was born in Danzig (Gdansk) but spent most of his life in Holland. He was an able scientific-instrument maker and merchant, with a special skill in blowing glass apparatus. In 1724, despite his modest output of scientific writings, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London, when he proposed his system for making thermometers. In addition to designing major improvements for thermometers, Fahrenheit invented a type of aerometer. His name was given to a temperature scale adopted by many countries - particularly in the English-speaking world (it is still in official use in the United States).