Baby, It's Cold Outside – or how hot is hot, how cold is cold?

Edwin C. Constable

doi:10.2533/chimia.2021.50

Baby, It's Cold Outside – or how hot is hot, how cold is cold?

Authors

Edwin C. Constable Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, BPR 1096, Mattenstrasse 24a, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland;, Email: edwin.constable@unibas.ch

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2533/chimia.2021.50

PMID:

33637147

Keywords:

History of science, Temperature, Thermometers

Abstract

Frank Loesser's song epitomises our fixation with temperature. But how do we define how hot is hot and how cold is cold? This short article looks at the history of temperature and why life today is much simpler than it was in the past.