“Teach me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.” – Benjamin
Franklin. Benjamin Franklin was raised in a poverty. He nourished himself with literature when he
was just a kid, and worked for his brother as a printer at the age of 17. When he left his brother to
open his own printing press, he became so successful that he retired at the age of 42! This allowed
him to focus on his love for science. Franklin was a polymath (in other words, he was many things)—
an author, printer, politician, scientist, musician, inventor, and much, much more. He made significant
contributions to many fields. However, he is probably best known for his work in science, especially in
electricity and the physics of electricity. For the areas of science in which he worked, he is known for
his studies in the theory of electricity and his useful inventions. These include the Franklin stove, bifocal
eyeglasses, the lightning rod, and daylight savings time.
One of Franklin's greatest claims to fame was his work in electricity. He carried out experiments
with the Leyden jar, sent a current through water to ignite alcohol, made the first battery, ignited
gunpowder, and much, much more (Bellis). He even charged wine glasses so the drinkers would receive
shocks! More importantly though, he began to develop the theory of the relationship between lightning
and electricity; he brought up the idea of protecting buildings by using iron rods. In the summer of
1752, he performed the famous kite experiment, where he drew down electricity from the sky by
charging a Leyden jar from the key at the end of the string. Franklin stated that "electricity is a single
electrical 'fluid'" (electrons) "that may be transferre...
... middle of paper ...
...known scientist and politician in both American and Europe and will always be remembered as the father of electricity.
"Timeline: 1750-1774." Magnet Lab. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. . One of the dominant minds working during this period was Benjamin Franklin, the first American to make significant contributions to science. Also an accomplished statesman, philosopher and writer, Franklin developed a keen fascination with electricity in the 1740s, after he was given a glass tube and cloth with which to experiment. With this and an electrostatic generator he had built, the tireless tinkerer embarked on a series of experiments that led him to believe there was just one type of electricity after all, rather than the two types Du Fay had theorized some years before.
Gordon S. Wood delves into Benjamin Franklin’s philosophical, political, and personal legacies in the biography, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin. The book travels through Franklin’s experiments, his travels in Europe, and his role in the American revolution. The book begins when Franklin retires from business and becomes a gentleman. It was when he became a gentleman, it allowed him to analyze the world around him. “Indeed, he could not drink a cup of tea without wondering why the tea leaves at the bottom gathered in way rather than another,” a quote from Edmund S. Morgan’s book, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin spent a great deal of time in Britain before returning to America. When he returned, he threw himself into the American revolution, which sent him to France. After he accomplished his duties in France, he returned back home to America where he ran for public office.
Benjamin Franklin was a remarkably talented man. He started his life as a printers apprentice, but went much farther then there. He developed things that were far more advanced than the time. Benjamin Franklin's stove for example, for cold winter nights, and bifocal lenses for reading. Franklin tracked storms to help understand the horrible weather endured by the colonies. But gis study of electricity made him mist famous and he was known world wide as the founder of the lightning rod. Not only was Benjamin Franklin helpful in developing ideas for better living, he was also a strong force in developing the new nation of America. Benjamin Franklins political views showed him to be a man who loved freedom and independence. His views towards England gradually changed from like to dislike until he finally
According to Barry Gewen, “the library, Fire Company, insurance company, hospital and university he founded in Philadelphia were some of the inventions that won him fame on both sides of the Atlantic.
Benjamin Franklin is considered to be one of the most well-known Founding Fathers, as he helped in writing the Declaration of Independence and the very first Constitution of the United States. Who was he other than a man who fought for colonist’s rights however? Franklin was a brilliant inventor who created many innovating and life changing mechanisms, such as the world’s very first almanac, bifocals, and the lightning rod. He was also a major figure in the American Enlightenment, which restored art, science and music, spreading moral philosophy all across the colonies. Although he was never elected to the role of President of the United States, Franklin served in several other parts, such as the first postmaster general for the colonies in
In 1837 Morse got two partners to help him develop his telegraph. One was Leonard Gale, a quiet professor of science at New York University who taught him how to increase voltage by increasing the number of turns around the electromagnet. The other was Alfred ...
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer and physicist. He was also considered an eccentric genius and recluse. Tesla is best known for his feud with Thomas Edison over AC power Versus DC Power. He was also well known for inventing the Tesla Coil which is still used in radio technology today. Nikola Tesla was mostly forgotten until the 1990’s when there was a resurgence of interest in popular culture.
Writer, printer, scientist, leader, inventor, and “rebel with a cause” are few of the many careers that Benjamin Franklin has been renowned for over the years. All of them truly reflect the abilities that he deployed during the birth of our nation. These qualities have also acknowledged a superb leader who serves as a prominent model and founding father to today’s generation.
From a young age, he was extremely smart. His intelligence is shown in his many inventions such as his experiment in electricity. One of Franklins greatest electricity experiment was the kite. The kite was made out of two strips of cedar which reached to the corners of a thin handkerchief. The kite was raised with a tail, loop and a string with a sharp pointed wire, rising a foot above the wood. When thunder clouds come over the kite, the wire will draw electric fire from the kite. Franklin found pleasure in science and wanted to educate his citizens as well as himself on electricity Another great invention that Franklin created was the lightening rod. The lightening rod was a small rod, about three to four feet which stuck out of the ground and the other side was about six to eight feet, which would be placed on the highest part of the building. When the lightening hit the rod, it would be conducted to the ground through the wire which would prevent a fire and create electricity. Through these inventions, it is shown how Benjamin Franklin proved his greatness by tampering with electricity which can be a very difficult thing to
Edison searched for the proper "filament" or wire, that would give good light when electricity flowed through it. He sent people to the jungles of the Amazon and forests of Japan in his search for a perfect filament material. He tested over 6,000 vegetable growths (baywood, boxwood, hickory, cedar, flax, bamboo) as filament material.
foundation of the modern age world. Edison was one of the main contributors to life and history
Humans these days take electricity for granted. We don’t truly understand what life was like without it. Most young adults will tell you their life does not depend on electricity, but they aren’t fooling anyone. They all know that their life depends on electricity; whether it’s television, their phone, Google, or the lights in their house. We need to stop taking those things for granted and give credit where credit is due. That is why I chose to write about the scientists who contributed to the discovery of electricity, which then helped modern scientists fuel the electricity phenomenons we now have today.
Coulomb's work would become one of the first cases where electric charge was measured quantitatively. In the 1740's electricity was beginning to become well know. By the 1750's, Benjamin Franklin's had shown that lightning was an electrical phenomenon thereby proving that that electricity did exist in nature. Franklin's work became an inspiration to others and spawned research into the study of electricity and measurement of it.
Electricity has fascinated human kind since our ancestors first witnessed lightning. In ancient Greece, Thales observed that an electric charge could be generated by rubbing amber, for which the Greek word is electron. The German physicist Otto von Guericke experimented with generating electricity in 1650, the English physicist Stephen Gray discovered electrical conductivity in 1729, and the American statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin studied the properties of electricity by conducting his famous experiment of flying a kite with a key attached during electrical storms.
Nikola Tesla is regarded as one of the most brilliant inventors in history. His work provided the basis for the modern alternating current power system, as well as having developed both radio and the fluorescent light bulb. He worked with Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, among others. He was also widely misunderstood by his peers and the public at large.
He was also apart of the 19th-century revolution in thermodynamics. He also was an American born British physicist and inventor.