At face value, measuring the temperature using Celsius instead of Fahrenheit seems to make sense. After all, the freezing point of water in Celsius is a perfect 0 degrees C — not that inexplicable 32 degrees, as in Fahrenheit. Also, the boiling point of water in Celsius is right at 100 degrees (Okay, 99.98, but what's a couple hundredths of a degree among friends?), instead of the awkward 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
But Fahrenheit may be the best way to measure temperature after all. Why? Because most of us only care about air temperature, not water temperature.
Celsius is great for measuring the temperature of water. However, we're human beings who live on dry ground. As a result, it's best to use a temperature gauge that's suited to the air, as opposed to one that's best used for water. This is one reason why Fahrenheit is superior.
Fahrenheit is also more precise. The ambient temperature on most of the inhabited world ranges from -20 degrees Fahrenheit to 110 degrees Fahrenheit — a 130-degree range. On the Celsius scale, that range is from -28.8 degrees to 43.3 degrees — a 72.1-degree range. This means that you can get a more exact measurement of the air temperature using Fahrenheit because it uses almost twice the scale.
A precise reading of temperature is important to us because just a little variation can result in a perceivable level of discomfort. Most of us are people who are easily affected even by even slight changes in the thermometer, and the Fahrenheit scale is more sensitive to those changes.
It seems the author is saying that nobody uses fractions of degrees in day-to-day life, so Fahrenheit is a better scale because it has smaller increments. I'm not sold on this, because you'll get the same temperature variation within a room whether you set your air-conditioning system to 21°C or 70°F, and people will complain that they prefer the room to be a bit warmer/cooler/whatever.
Does anyone here have another reason for advocating the continued use of the Fahrenheit scale ?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by wonkey_monkey on Thursday July 27 2017, @07:49PM (4 children)
Well, as others have already said, this is a bunch of bollocks. A single degree Celsius is more than enough accuracy for everyday use. If you need anything more precise, then it's unlikely that using integers in Fahrenheit is going to be enough for you either.
Furthermore, 0°F has no useful everyday meaning. It just means "very cold." At least 0°C is a temperature that something interesting and useful-to-know happens at, and the fact that it happens to water instead of air is irrelevant - nothing interesting happens to air in the normal Earth temperature range.
Only one man might be a better way of putting it.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 27 2017, @10:43PM (3 children)
Celsius is not quite accurate enough for food processing. You can't safely operate a cannery that way unless you overcook everything.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Thursday July 27 2017, @10:48PM (2 children)
So one degree celsius isn't accurate enough, but half a degree is?
Just use decimal places.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday July 28 2017, @02:19AM (1 child)
No one (esp. not non-technical people) wants to mess with decimal places when they're just adjusting their thermostat, they want simple whole numbers. And most Americans really do perceive a difference between 72F and 73F.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 28 2017, @09:01AM
So, you are saying fractions scare Americans?
23C vs. 24C vs. 23.5C vs. 23.0C
what's the big deal with 0.5 except for the "scary" . ?
I'm in Europe now, and my thermostat reads in 0.5C increments. For some reason, no one around here finds that scary.