It Burns

[deckardcanine]

Nicolas Clément, a chemist and physicist,
Coined the word “calorie,” talking of heat.
A few decades later, Pierre Antoine Favre
And Jean Thiébault Silbermann made it less neat.

They all had referred to the energy needed
To heat up some water by one degree C,
But Clément was thinking of one gram of water;
The others, a kilogram (liter). Dear me.

Both meanings are still being used to this day,
Tho they often are given descriptors like “small”
For clarification. Some authors prefer that
In text on the “large” one, we make the C tall.

Be mindful in reading nutritional labels
On products while visiting various nations.
Their “calories” could be the small or the large kind.
If you assume wrongly, you’re in for frustration.