In article ,
Col writes:

"Paul Crabtree" (remove spam for valid
e-mail) wrote in message ...

Can we trust records from 1659 !! - what thermometer were they using ! were
they calibrated !


I always thought that the early years of the CET were determined
far more from inferences from diaries and agricultural records than
from actual readings.

I don't think that you can get enough precision from that. (Though IIRC
the earliest mean monthly CETs are only given to the nearest 0.5C rather
than the nearest 0.1C.) IIRC, the very earliest years rely on
thermometers in only two locations, though.

One big problem is that in the early years thermometers were often hung
indoors in an unheated room rather than outdoors, perhaps because they
were valuable items. Presumably such records would not be usable.
--
John Hall
"If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts;
but if he will be content to begin with doubts,
he shall end in certainties." Francis Bacon (1561-1626)