Galileo's Thermometer

For the past five years I've spent every Tuesday afternoon dusting a smaller version of one of these for one of my former clients [I can't tell you how weird that is typing that] and as far as I was concerned, it was just another ornament. However, I must have caught something on television because I found out that it is actually some sort of scientific instrument, but I didn't take on board what. When I first met David he was working as a design engineer for a scientific instrument company [he started out as a physicist] and he loves this sort of thing. Normally I don't go on our local free FB group unless I'm offering something and that was the case on Friday when this popped up. From the owner's post I learnt that it's called a Galileo Thermometer so I called Mr GBT in and asked him if he'd be interested. Turns out he was and now it's come to live with us. I enjoy it as an attractive piece of decorative piece of glass.

The outer glass case is filled with clear liquid and the glass globules within are different sizes with varying amounts of liquid within them. As the temperature changes the spherical things slowly rise up or down according to both the density of the liquid within them and around them. This is the bit where Galileo comes in as he discovered the scientific principle, but his followers translated the theory into practice with the thermometer design after his death.

Actually we've done rather marvellously with the Giving-Away Gods this weekend as we also picked up a second massive free slow cooker [we're going to make bread in it and use it when we have visitors for cooking a dessert in like a steamed pud or bigger quantities of the main course] and 40 History magazines. Once we've read them they'll be donated to the free bookcase in the shopping centre which I have benefitted from on many an occasion. Thrilling as these bits are for me they don't make as an attractive photo, so have spared you them!

Arilx