Ian Hembrow, 'Celsius: A Life and Death by Degrees’ Book Launch

Author Ian Hembrow returns to Wolfson College to officially launch Celsius: A Life and Death by Degrees (The History Press, 2024), which he prepared during his time as Visiting Scholar at the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing. Celsius is the first, full-length English language biography of Swedish astronomer and Earth science pioneer Professor Anders Celsius (1701-44) – the man behind the temperature scale we all use every day.

The book reveals what Celsius’ extraordinary but tragically short life and career can teach us about our today and humanity’s tomorrow. Ian’s presentation will tell the story of this pioneering scientist, and recount his quest to follow in Celsius’ footsteps across Europe and beyond the Arctic Circle.

As our world faces the life-or-death challenge of global climate change, there’s much we can learn from Celsius, if we choose to listen.

Ian Hembrow was a visiting scholar at the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing between 2021 and 2023. This is his second book and first work of historical biography.

This launch has been organised in conjunction with Writers in Oxford. The event is free and open to all, however registration is required. 

Praise for Celsius: A Life and Death by Degrees:

‘Ian Hembrow is a skilled storyteller. This is not a dry history of a temperature scale but a carefully researched and entertaining life of an Enlightenment astronomer, scientist and explorer who gave his name to the Celsius temperature scale. Ian guides us through the events that shaped his personal and professional life in Uppsala, and the Grand Tour of Europe, to provide a fascinating pen-portrait of the times and of this remarkable man.’   

Dr Julian Mayes, Former Vice-President, Royal Meteorological Society

‘This is a beautifully written masterwork of science biography, covering the life and times of the great Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius. Ian Hembrow provides a gripping narrative that details his search for a man who was very much embedded in his city and landscape, who now remains relatively obscure even though he left an indelible mark above and beyond his invention of the Celsius temperature scale. This biography not only sheds light on a brilliant polymath and the colorful world of eighteenth-century science and its many characters; it also raises larger and more contemporary questions around global warming and the relevance of Celsius to the world we live in today.’

Sarah Covington, Professor of History, Biography and Memoir, City University of New York