LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Benjamin Franklin (Franklin, Benjamin - Scientist): Electricity
built 801 days ago
Benjamin Franklin (Franklin, Benjamin - Scientist) also shows up in the Retriever categories:
Benjamin Franklin (Franklin, Benjamin - Early) , and more.
Benjamin Franklin (Franklin, Benjamin - Early) , and more.
Benjamin Franklin was the first to discover the true electrical nature of lightning. He conducted an experiment by sending up a kite during a thunderstorm with a key attached to the string made from silk thread. Static electricity from the clouds flowed down the wet string. When Franklin put his hand near the key, he felt a mild electric shock and saw small sparks. He was very lucky because he wasn't hurt worse. Since the days of Benjamin Franklin, scientists have learned many things about lightning.
Source:
Benjamin Franklin was one of the most well known Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a leading printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat. As a scientist he was a major figure in the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As a political writer and activist he, more than anyone, developed the idea of an American nation, and as a diplomat during the American Revolution, he secured the French alliance that made independence possible.
Source:
During the years in his 40s, Benjamin Franklin gained fame through his experiments in electricity. He ... came up with a number of inventions during this time of scientific study. He was inquisitive and observant, leading to his discoveries. In the later years of his life, he spent more time on statesmanship, representing his country in Europe.
Source:
Benjamin Franklin was interested in electricity. Being a curious and inventive thinker, Franklin wanted to know more than just the popular tricks. He kept thinking about electricity and came up with a very important idea.
Source:
Before going to London, Franklin made some fundamental discoveries about the nature of electricity, which underpinned much of the subsequent development. The speaker said that he ‘turned electricity from a magical entertainment into a serious science’. He adopted an experimental method, which he set out in clear, brief and thorough English, unlike the current accounts rendered in academic Latin. He shared all of his results with whoever showed interest and wrote many hundreds of letters on a wide variety of subjects. The most important aspect of his achievements is probably the help afforded by a quiet friend named Peter Collinson, a Quaker trader in cloth and haberdashery who was ... a botanist, who published Franklin’s work in many languages. Scientists initially scorned his work, believing that a mere ‘colonist’ could not contribute anything of value, but eventually his publications became standard texts in many universities.
Source:
Benjamin Franklin was the first to document electrical properties as positive and negative. After Franklin's famous experiment of flying a kite during a lightening storm, he documented that lightening is in fact electricity.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Electricity