Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit ( 1686 - 1736 )

Birth: Danzig (Gdansk), Poland (14 or 24 May 1686) Death: The Hague, Netherlands (16 September 1736) Profession: Scientific instrument maker Research Field: Experimental physics Career: On the death of his parents, sent by his guardian to Amsterdam (1701); travelled through Germany observing the practices of other instrument makers (1707); returned to Amsterdam (1717); friend of Herman Boerhaave (FRS 1730) and Willem Jakob 's Gravesande (FRS 1715); invented the mercury thermometer; demonstrated his thermometer to the Royal Society (1724) Membership: Fellow Election Date: 7/05/1724.