What is the Scoville Scale and Scoville Heat Units The Scoville Scale and Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) were named for scientist Wilbur Scoville (1/22/1865 in Bridgeport, CT- 3/10/1942 in Gainesville, FL) in 1912. At the time, Scoville worked for a pharmaceutical company named Parke-Davis where he developed a test called the “Scoville Organoleptic Test” which is used to measure various chili pepper’s pungency, spiciness and heat. Originally, Scoville ground up peppers and mixed th