Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790)

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Scientist and inventor

Sources

The American. The life of Benjamin Franklin best represents the American scientific character. He was a self-made man who was not against making money from his scientific achievements. A native Bostonian, Franklin as a teenager ran away to Philadelphia and started his own printing business. He retired a rich man in 1748. Franklin’s scientific interests were universal. His annual Poor Richard’s Almanack was a cornucopia of astronomical data, advice about medicine, rhymes and anecdotes to teach morals, and meteorological predictions. Franklin was the most famous American scientist of his time because of his experiments with electricity. Yet he remained an amateur, a tinkerer rather than a theorist. He respected but could not completely comprehend Sir Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687). Franklin’s interests tended toward applied science: how knowledge of natural phenomena could yield useful technology. To this end, in 1744 he began the American Philosophical Society, the first scientific society in America. Franklin modeled it in part on the Royal Society of London, of which he became a fellow in 1757.

Approach to Life. The best source of information for the life of Benjamin Franklin is his Autobiography, first published in 1868. In the Autobiography Franklin discussed his scientific interests and inventions. The book also reveals how Franklin’s scientific thinking pervaded all aspects of his life. Franklin wrote that as a young man “I conceiv’d of the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection.” He listed thirteen virtues to which he aspired: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquillity, chastity, and humility. He drew up a chart that listed all virtues according to the days of the week. At the end of each day he contemplated his behavior; if he failed to accomplish one or more virtues, he made a star in the appropriate column. By charting his behavior Franklin recorded the data of his faults, systematically studied the trends of vice over time, and worked to correct his behavior. He had a scientific approach to morality. Franklin also made a daily schedule that fitted all of his activities to the time of day. Each day he set out in an orderly fashion to accomplish the daily goal. He planned his meals and entertainment and thought that six hours of sleep would be sufficient. From the application of science to his own life, Franklin hoped to prepare himself for more public scientific pursuits.

Universal Thinker. All branches of science interested Benjamin Franklin. His fame rested on his experiments in electricity, which he undertook in the 1740s and 1750s. Franklin’s description of his experiments in letters to Peter Collinson, published in 1751, made his name known all over Europe. Franklin also studied astronomy, being particularly fascinated with solar and lunar eclipses. He made preparations to observe the transit of Mercury across the disk of the sun in 1753, but a cloudy sky intervened. He speculated on the cause and character of comets and wondered whether or not they were inhabited. Poor Richard’s Almanack was Franklin’s chief medium to spread his interest in astronomy. Likewise he used his almanac to inform his readers about remedies for illnesses. In the 1737 almanac Franklin included a long description of a so-called Rattle-snake Herb, an antidote to rattlesnake venom. Reputedly Native Americans chewed the herb, boiled it, and either drank the resulting concoction or bound wounds with it. The 1740 almanac contained “Dr. Tennent’s Infallible Cure for the Pleurisy.” The cure involved bleeding as well as heavy doses of “Rattle-snake Root.” In the 1742 almanac Franklin discussed his “Rules of Health and long Life, and to Preserve from Malignant Fevers, and Sickness in general.” The theme of the treatise was that moderation in eating and drinking prevented illness and resulted in long life.

Inventions. Franklin used science as a means to acquire useful knowledge; gaining it for its own sake was less important. Franklin applied his knowledge of medicine to create technology that could help humans live longer, happier lives. He invented a urinary catheter as well as bifocal lenses for glasses. He studied the effects of electricity on the human body and experimented with electric-shock therapy. A visitor of the aged Franklin found the old man, afflicted with rheumatism and other ailments, sitting in a shoelike bathtub of his own design. Franklin built the tub for his own comfort. A platform attached to the tub extending over the water allowed the scientist to read his favorite book while he soaked in hot water. A result of Franklin’s studies of heat was the Franklin stove, which was an ingenious iron fireplace that warmed and circulated air while disposing of smoke. The practical side of Franklin’s experiments in electricity was the invention of the grounded lightning rod. In response to one critic of his experiments and inventions, Franklin reputedly asked, “Of what use is a new-born babe?” Franklin’s mind was always working, thinking about current problems and future solutions.

Sources

I. Bernard Cohen, Benjamin Franklin’s Science (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990);

William and Julia Cutler, eds., Life, Journals, and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler, LL.D., 2 volumes (Cincinnati: R. Clerke, 1888);

George Daniels, Science in American Society: A Social History (New York: Knopf, 1971);

Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography (New York: Macmillan, 1962);

Franklin, The Complete Poor Richard Almanacks,2 volumes (Barre, Mass.: Imprint Society, 1970).