I recently saw an article, a historical account, about hair products and appliances. I noticed a strange appliance called the hygrometer, and read that it was developed in the 1700's. I decided to look into this.
It appears that in 1783, a Swiss physicist and geologist named Horace Benedict de Saussure, created the first hair hygrometer. Apparently, it measures humidity of human hair! Horace lived from 1740 to 1799, was an aristocrat, and an Alpine traveler! He also, by the way, founded alpinism, or the art or science of mountain climbing! He even offered a prize for the first scaling of Mont Blanc. He made the third attempt about 1788.
He spent a great deal of time researching the Alps, seeing them as the grand key to the true theory of the earth, giving close attention to the rocks and fossils. He carried barometers and thermometers to the summits of various alpine mountains and estimated the relative humidity of the atmosphere at different heights to gain knowledge of moisture, temperature, strength of solar radiation.
This led to his development of the hygrometer, using human or animal hair under tension to measure changes in humidity. The length change is magnified by a mechanism and indicated on a dial or scale. HIs machine consisted of a human hair eight to ten inches long, fastened at one end to a screw, and at the other end passing a pulley, being strained tight by a silk threat and weight. The pulley is connected to an index which moves over a graduated scale. The instrument can be made more sensitive by removing oils from the hair by soaking the hair with diethyl ether.
And here is the reason for hair products developing and utilizing various serums and conditioners to keep moisture from having an effect on hair regarding styling. Bye, bye frizzies! Thank you, Mr. Sassoon,....I mean de Saussure.
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