MadSci Network: Science History
Query:

Re: What's the difference between degrees Celsius and degrees Centrigrade?

Date: Mon Sep 20 07:21:16 1999
Posted By: Dan Berger, MadSci Admin
Area of science: Science History
ID: 937661879.Sh
Message:

The difference between degrees Celsius and degrees centigrade is that one is the name of the person who invented the scale (in which water freezes at 0° and boils at 100°), and the other describes the scale ("centigrade" means "100 divisions").

The other difference is that "Celsius" is considered correct. "Centigrade" was an older, and I think almost exclusively American, way of referring to the scale. Because we call the Fahrenheit scale after its inventor, to be consistent we should refer to the Celsius scale after its inventor.

Dan Berger
MadSci Administrator



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