I was perusing Google News
the other day and noticed something I had missed before. The temperatures in
the weather section had three possible measurements: “C, F and K”. While it was 88°F it was also 31°C and a
staggering 304°K.
I thought to myself, “The
same data, interpreated differantly, with completely different results and
renderings”. Reminded me of politics. So I did a little reading and, sure
enough, there is a correlation.
The Independent:
The Fahrenheit scale is a
temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by physicist Daniel Gabriel
Fahrenheit (1686–1736).
The lower defining point,
0 °F, was established as the freezing temperature of a solution of brine (salt water) made from equal parts of ice, water and a
salt (aka: ammonium chloride). It was a basis that no one understood. Later the freezing point of pure water was
added (32°F).
Fahrenheit is the most arbitrary
and independent of temperature measurement in use today. Its use is limited to
the United States and some Caribbean islands. Few people in the world use this
measure. It is ‘Independent’ of any mathematical or scientific principle –
outside of ‘brine’.
The Conservative:
The Celsius scale, also known as the centigrade
scale, is a temperature scale used, literally, by the rest of the world.
In 1742, Swedish astronomer
Anders Celsius (1701–1744) created a decimal temperature scale that was the
reverse of the scale now known as "Celsius": 0 represented the
boiling point of water, while 100 represented the freezing point of water.
A year later, in 1743, the French
physicist Jean-Pierre Christin, working independently of Celsius, developed a
scale where zero represented the freezing point of water and 100 represented
the boiling point of water.
The initial problem with Celsius
arose from the fact altitude will affect the boiling point of water. So, the
scale was amended to “…100 °C for the boiling point of water - at one
standard atmosphere” or, in layman’s terms, sea level.
This is the most conservative
because it has a lower and upper limit (0-100) and even a location (sea level) assigned
to both its range and accuracy. All the other scales are open ended with no
defining upper limit. Not to mention, its origins are inverse to its naming
convention. Celsius got the nod only because he invented a decimal system of measurement
– not because he got it right.
The Liberal:
Named after the
Belfast-born, Glasgow University engineer and physicist William Thomson, 1st
Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), the Kelvin scale is the most scientific, and most
refined, of all temperature measurements. Zero degree Kelvin is exactly −273.15
°C. Better known as ‘absolute zero’, it is the point at which nothing can get
colder.
On 20 May 2019, the kelvin
was redefined so that its value is now determined by the definition of the
Boltzmann constant rather than being defined by the triple point of water (VSMOW).
If this sounds confusing, it
was meant to be: It’s liberal.
Conclusions
Other similarities strike me
too. For instance, politicians and weather forecasters alike have the only jobs
in America where they can be wrong over 50% of the time and still keep their
jobs.
I often see political ‘alternative
facts’ interpreted as if there were actually some measurement that justified
the conclusions. Maybe they are just the same data with political measurements.
We need to start placing temperature conversion symbols next to every political statement or
opinion. Like:
“The crowds at Obama’s first
inauguration were the largest(k) in history.” However, “The crowds
at Trumps first inauguration were also the largest(c) in history.”
But in truth, “Many people(f) did not see much of a difference.”
I’m cool with that. No pun
intended.
