History of the Thermometer

Italian inventor, Santorio Santorio invented the thermoscope, a precursor to the thermometer. Santorio was the first to apply a numerical scale to his thermoscope, an invention that measured temperature and which later evolved into the thermometer.

Santorio Santorio - Biography

Santorio Santorio was on March 29, 1561 and died on February 22, 1636. He was also called Santorio Santorii or Sanctorius of Padua. He was a professor at Padua University from 1611 to 1624, and researched the sciences of temperature, respiration and weight, and metabolism. He measured what he described as "insensible perspiration", lying the foundation for the future study of metabolism.

Santorio was a physician and the founder of quantitative measurement in medicine. He was the first to use a thermometer-like device to measure body temperature, and also invented various instruments, including a hygrometer and a water-bed, a wind gauge, a water current meter, and the pulsilogium, the first machine to measure pulse.