History of Thermometers

1. As a matter of fact, the very fast step in the development of heat engineering made it necessary to find a device for including temperature and for measuring its changes. As is well known, the thermometer is the very instrument that serves this purpose.

2. As early as 1602, Galileo invented an air thermometer. It consisted of a glass bulb containing air and connected to a glass tube, the latter being immersed into a colored liquid. Galileo’s air thermometer was sensitive not only to temperature changes but also to change of atmospheric pressure.

3. The type of thermometer familiar to everyone at present was first put into general use as early as 1654. Making the first measuring instruments was not an easy thing at all. Needless to say, the most difficult problem of all was that of making the degrees on the thermometer, in other words, of graduating the scale. It was decided, at last, to take two fixed points and to divide the intervals between them into the same number of degrees. And then, in 1701, Isaac Newton, the famous English scientist, whose name is known all over the world, constructed a scale in which the freezing point of water was taken as zero and the temperature of the human body 12º.

4. Some time later the German physicist Fahrenheit proved that the temperature of boiling water was always the same at the same atmospheric pressure. It might therefore be used as a second fixed point instead of the temperature of the human body. As for the liquid used, it was mercury which has been mostly employed since that time.

5. On the Fahrenheit scale the boiling point of water is taken as 212º and the freezing point as 32º, the interval being divided into 180 equal parts. The scale under consideration is indicated by writing the letter F after the temperature, as for example, 212º F. This scale is mainly used in

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Д. Крупнейший	1. greatest
	2. greater
	3. greatness
Е. National	1. нация
	2. национальность
	3. национальный
Ж. Practically	1. практический
	2. практически
	3. практика

2. Определите функции – (е) s:

- показатель множественного числа имени существительного;

- показатель глагола в третьем лице;

- показатель притяжательного падежа имени существительного в единственном (-'s) или множественном (-s') числе.

Образец выполнения:

St. Petersburg is situated on the banks of the Neva.

banks – показатель множественного числа имени существительного.

а) The Hermitage contains one of the largest collections of European pictures.

б) You can find Russian and foreign publications in the funds of this library.

в) My friend's profession is a fireman.

г) The students' hostel is situated not far from our school.

3. Найдите в первом абзаце текста субъектный инфинитивный оборот. Переведите предложение.

4. Найдите в четвертом абзаце текста прилагательные в превосходной степени, переведите их.

5. Переведите текст на русский язык.

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