Franklin...He's Electric!
As of March 2009, this exhibit is no longer accessible to visitors. Look for a new Electricity exhibit in 2010.
A Few Franklin Facts...
When most people think of Ben Franklin, they think of electricity. He is best known for the infamous kite-and-key experiment in June of 1752.
While he did not "invent" electricity, he did make the important discovery that lightning and electricity are the same. He proved that lightning is an electrical current in nature.
Franklin developed the single-fluid theory of electricity, introducing many of the terms used to describe electricity today: battery, conductor, condenser, charge, discharge, uncharged, negative, minus, plus, electric shock and electrician.
And because he understood both the power and danger of lightning, he invented the lightning rod to protect ships, buildings, and even people against it.
Franklin became a scientist because he was insatiably curious about the world around him. He wanted to know how things worked and figure out ways to make them better.
Here's a sampling of Franklin's many accomplishments:
METEOROLOGY and NAVIGATION:
Franklin was one of the first to discover that storms tend to move from west to east, and he made some of the first- recorded weather forecasts in his Poor Richard's Almanack. He also charted the Gulf Stream in detail and developed Daylight Savings Time.
AQUATICS:
An avid swimmer, Franklin developed early swim fins. As a boy, he had fashioned two wooden palettes, oval in shape and with a hole through which to put one's thumb. With one on each hand, he paddled through water, observing that they helped him to swim faster. He later developed swim fins to reduce what he called a "laborious and fatiguing operation."
HEAT AND FIRE:
Ben invented the Franklin Stove, an iron furnace that allowed people to heat their homes safely while using less wood. He discovered the conductivity of heat by color and established the first volunteer fire-fighting union and fire insurance company in Philadelphia.
FLIGHT:
After observing the world's first-known hot air balloon flight, Franklin correctly predicted that balloons would be used for military, recreational and scientific purposes.
BIOSCIENCE and MEDICINE:
As happens to most of us, Franklin's vision deteriorated as he grew older. He loved to read and grew tired of switching between two pairs of glasses—one that helped him to see things close, another to see things farther away. So, he cut the lenses from both pairs in half, then put half of each lens in a single frame, inventing bifocals. He also invented the first flexible urinary catheter (for his brother) and co- founded the Pennsylvania Hospital.