Thermometers

/θərˈmɑːmɪtərz/ noun

Definition

Instruments that measure temperature using a scale and either mercury, alcohol, or digital sensors to show how hot or cold something is.

Etymology

From Greek 'therme' (heat) and 'metron' (measure), coined in the early 1600s when Galileo created the first temperature-measuring device.

Kelly Says

The thermometer revolutionized medicine because before it, doctors were essentially guessing about fevers—once they could actually measure temperature, they could track if a patient was improving and realize that different diseases had different fever patterns.

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