Measuring the temperature of different types of matter is a key component of many different branches of science, especially chemistry. However, for a long time, scientists could only tell if something was hot or cold and didn't have a way to tell precisely hot or how cold that thing was. Today, we use thermometers in the Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin scales to measure temperature. Diagrams and fact boxes help readers understand the practical uses of each scale and how to safely measure temperature in the lab.