Celsius

Celsius, Anders (1701-1744), a Swedish astronomer, born at Upsala of a somewhat noted family, since his grandfather was a professor of astronomy and a decipherer of Runes, and his uncle professor of theology and author, and the friend and patron of Linnaeus. Celsius became professor of astronomy at Upsala in 1730, and in 1736 took part in the scientific expedition of Maupertuis for measuring a degree of the meridian in Lapland. He published an account of the results of this expedition, and wrote many papers upon astronomy and physics, and from 1740 presided over a good observatory, which was erected at Upsala. He is known also as the constructor of the centigrade thermometer, which, as its name implies, is divided between boiling and freezing points into 100 degrees, and is generally accepted for all scientific purposes as the standard thermometer. One of Celsius's theories was that the waters of the ocean are decreasing in volume.