HOW TEMPERATURE IS MEASURED. Temperature is a measure of how hot or cold something is. It is measured in degrees. However, the size of the degree varies, depending on which temperature scale is used. A number of scale have been developed since 1714 when Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit developed the first scale to be widely used. He decided that a scale should have three major reference points: (1) a boiling point, (2) a freezing point, and (3) a zero point.