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
David Kennedy (astronomer) he was the provincial superior of the Society of Mary in New Zealand. He died in Wellington on 10 March 1936. David Kennedy (astronomer) David Kennedy (27 April 1864 – 10 March 1936) was born at Lyttelton, New Zealand, the son of an Irish mother and a Scottish father who came to New Zealand from Melbourne in 1863. He became the first New Zealand born priest of the Society of Mary (Marists), a noted astronomer and educator. As a boy he showed a keen interest in both theology and science. Because of his undoubted intelligence and promise he was sent