Meteorology known as the first "anemometer". In 1607, Galileo Galilei constructed a thermoscope. In 1611, Johannes Kepler wrote the first scientific treatise on snow crystals: "Strena Seu de Nive Sexangula (A New Year's Gift of Hexagonal Snow)". In 1643, Evangelista Torricelli invented the mercury barometer. In 1662, Sir Christopher Wren invented the mechanical, self-emptying, tipping bucket rain gauge. In 1714, Gabriel Fahrenheit created a reliable scale for measuring temperature with a mercury-type thermometer. In 1742, Anders Celsius, a Swedish astronomer, proposed the "centigrade" temperature scale, the predecessor of the current Celsius scale. In 1783, the first hair hygrometer was demonstrated by
Stephen Alexander (astronomer) National Academy of Science; and a "Statement and Exposition of Certain Harmonies of the Solar System", which was published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1875. Stephen Alexander (astronomer) Stephen Alexander (September 1, 1806 – June 25, 1883) was a noted astronomer and educator. He was born in Schenectady, New York. He was the brother-in-law of Joseph Henry, the first secretary of the Smithsonian, and worked closely with him. He graduated from Union College in 1824. He became a tutor in mathematics at Princeton University in 1832; he would later become professor of astronomy and mathematics and advocate for the construction