The invention of the thermoscope has been attributed to Galileo, Santorio Santorio, Robert Fludd, and Cornelius Drebbel. The instrument displayed the variations in air density produced by the changes in temperature. With the increasing adoption of graduated scales, the thermoscope was transformed into the modern thermometer, capable of measuring the temperature accurately. In the mid-seventeenth century, the Accademia del Cimento developed the Florentine alcohol thermometer. Designed in different versions, the Accademia's instruments used a variety of graduated scales. The instruments were not, however, calibrated with uniform criteria. This made it impossible to compare measurements. In the eighteenth century, mercury was adopted as the thermometric substance of choice. Many thermometer scales were proposed. The most successful were Réaumur's eighty-degree scale, Celsius's centigrade scale, and Fahrenheit's scale. The temperatures of melting ice and boiling water were selected as the fixed points on the scales.
Inv. 2040
M. Gallonde, Paris, late 18th cent.
Inv. 1718
John Troughton, London, 1782-1800
Inv. 195, 2450
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 190
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 196
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 179, 182
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 173
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 102
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 31, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 85
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 79
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 2449
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 175, 176
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 172
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 1792
Maker unknown, Italian, second half 18th cent.
Inv. 1795
Maker unknown, 19th cent.
Inv. 2029
Dollond firm, London, late 18th cent.
Inv. 941
John Troughton, London, 1782-1800
Inv. 2038
Felice Fontana [attr.], Italian, second half 18th cent.
Inv. 407
Maker unknown, late 18th cent.
Inv. 385
Dollond firm, London, late 18th cent.
Inv. 3464
Felice Fontana, Italian, second half 18th cent.
Inv. 1895
Maker unknown, Italian?, first half 19th cent.
Inv. 184
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 78
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 1774
Maker unknown, first half 19th cent.
Inv. 192
Maker unknown, Florence, 17th cent.
Inv. 1897
Antonio Matteucci, ca. 1790
Inv. 66, 67
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 193, 194/a, 194/b
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 25, 26, 160, 163, 164, 166, 167, 169, 170, 171
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 282, 283, 2447, 2448
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 73, 74, 75, 76, 77
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 2444
Maker unknown, 19th cent. (replica)
Inv. 3743
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 216
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Inv. 70
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.