Celsius Celsius The Celsius scale, also known as the centigrade scale, is a temperature scale used by the International System of Units (SI). As an SI derived unit, it is used by all countries except the United States, the Bahamas, Belize, the Cayman Islands and Liberia. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701–1744), who developed a similar temperature scale. The degree Celsius (°C) can refer to a specific temperature on the Celsius scale or a unit to indicate a difference between two temperatures or an uncertainty. Before being renamed to honor Anders Celsius in 1948, the unit was
Wedgwood scale thermometer to temperatures below 356 °C, which is too low for many industrial applications such as pottery, glass making and metallurgy. To solve this problem, the English potter Josiah Wedgwood proposed, in the 18th century, a method to measure temperatures in his kilns. His method and temperature scale were then widely adopted in science and technical applications. They were abandoned after the invention of accurate types of pyrometer, for example the pyrometer of John Frederic Daniell in 1830. A 0.5-inch-diameter cylinder made from pipe clay was dried at the temperature of boiling water. This would prepare it for heating in