Benjamin Franklin as a Key Figure in Science and Innovation

Benjamin Franklin is broadly acknowledged as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and is given credit for the assistance in building the foundation of our nation. Although people only know of some of the careers he pursued, he had many others that people are not aware of. These include a composer, firefighter, librarian, soldier in the militia, and a publisher ('Benjamin Franklin.'). Out of all of these, three important jobs he had were a scientist, inventor and writer. Benjamin used all of his talents and passions for the betterment of the people. Through his many inquiries and experiments, he was able to create useful inventions and discover many concepts that changed the way people thought about electricity and other subjects of that matter. Franklin generated many medical theories that he proved right and shared his thoughts in his writings. Franklin also brought the fire department to Philadelphia and encouraged all people to take safety precautions always. Benjamin Franklin’s many brilliant inventions and scientific findings revolutionized the way people lived and thought.

People in the 1700s were astonished by the idea of electricity. It was a very new and unheard topic. Benjamin Franklin can be credited with the invention and advancement in the field of electricity. He conducted a few famous experiments that are very well known. One of these is the lightning rod experiment. Franklin had once said, 'Electrical fluid is attracted by points. We do not know whether this property is in lightning. 'Another famous scientist, Isaac Newton, had theorized along with Franklin that lightning and electricity went hand in hand, but they were not one hundred percent sure how. Benjamin decided to test this theory. This lead to his famous kite experiment. This experiment consisted of him flying a kite outside during a thunderstorm. The kite had a wire attached to the top with a key lying a little beneath it. A silk ribbon was tied to the bottom so Franklin would not get electrocuted. Finally, lightning struck the kite. Sparks flew off the bottom, and he collected them in a jar. When he went home and studied them, he found that the sparks held the same properties as electricity. This proved that there was electricity in the atmosphere (Higgins 64-65). Although this experiment had showed his theory to be true, this was just a pre-experiment.

The real experiment he was striving to create was another well-known one; the lightning rod experiment. In this experiment, he wanted to attach a long, metal rod to the roof of Church Christ of Philadelphia. When lightning struck the rod, someone on an insulated platform inside a sentry box would collect the charge in a Leyden jar. Before Franklin got the chance to conduct the experiment, another scientist successfully did it ('Benjamin Franklin - World In Context.'). Although Franklin had not done this, he did succeed with the kite experiment, and was credited for the fabrication of the lightning rod. Ironically, when he was working in Europe, his house got struck by lightning. Fortunately, it was kept safe by his lightning rod. People were astonished that lightning was safely brought down to Earth without harming anyone or anything. When his kite experiment worked, people began to look at the world differently, and realized that there were ways to control natural phenomena ('Benjamin Franklin American inventor').

Benjamin Franklin continued on with his research of electricity and continued to do experiments. An invention he made through one of his experiments is the capacitor. He filled a glass jar with water and charged it with electricity. He dumped out the water, and found that the water had lost the charge. This meant that if the water did not have the charge, the glass jar did. He checked to see if this was correct by conducting another experiment. He took a windowpane and put thin slats of lead on each side. He charged it and removed the slats of lead on each side to find that the window pane had some sparks. This helped him to develop the capacitor, which has a similar concept ('Benjamin Franklin - World In Context'). A capacitor is a device that stores energy. There are two plates with an insulator in between them. The charge goes through one plate into another, or positive to negative over and over again.

This alternating current causes electricity to flow through a device commercially (Kids.net.au). Franklin had also discovered that there is only one kind of electricity, with two fluid parts: the negative and positive charge. People originally thought there were two types of electricity: vitreous which is positive, and resinous which is negative (Higgins 64). Benjamin Franklin created the capacitor, which was and still is an important part of an electric circuit. It is used in radios, televisions, telephones, and many other devices ('Benjamin Franklin- World In Context'). The capacitor is a very important creation that helped to create items that benefit many people. Benjamin Franklin questioned different aspects of the electricity field, and used experiments to create findings and inventions that would benefit the people and make others think about the world a little differently.

In a similar manner, Benjamin Franklin was also very interested in the domain of health and medicine. A sickness called dry-bellyache was plaguing the American colonies and Europe. He wrote several compositions on the symptoms and why this disease occurred. Benjamin Franklin worked with Dr. George Baker to find the cause of this. Dr. George Baker had lived in England, and the disease in his area was called Devonshire Colic. They both conspirisized that the disease was caused by lead. They discussed and believed that lead- contaminated cider could trigger it. Dr. George Baker and Benjamin Franklin both found together that in the process of creating apple cider, a popular drink, lead was being used. This pointed evidence to the idea of dry-bellyache being caused by lead. Dry-bellyache is now known as lead poisoning. In 1723, the Massachusetts legislature outlawed the use of lead in coils and headstills.

Nowadays, the use of lead in a number of products such as pencils and paint is also outlawed. The discovery of lead-poisoning by Franklin and Baker saved many people from health complications and even death. Benjamin Franklin saved people from sicknesses and diseases in another way, too. He promoted the practice of inoculation, or vaccination. The process involved injecting healthy patients with a small amount of a disease, causing them to contract a milder version of the sickness. When they get over being sick, they would be immune to the more intense version of it. Franklin gathered information about the progress of inoculation in colonial cities. He found that the procedure had a very low mortality rate and lowered the amount of smallpox. Future doctors and scientists adapted and improved this practice to create what we now know as the dreaded vaccine shots. Although the shots may be painful, they do help to prevent illnesses such as the flu, measles, mumps, and pertussis.

Franklin’s promotions and findings on the inoculation process helped to prevent many people from contracting diseases, and possibly even dying (Gensel). Another very common problem back then was with older age, sight became worse. As people age, their eyes cannot focus from far away to close up and need both concave and convex lenses to see far and near correctly. Elders in Franklin’s time spectacles for both near and far sight. Franklin also suffered from this. He discovered a way to combine concave and convex into one frame so full sight was possible without switching between glasses (Later Development in Spectacles). He asked his optician to take lenses from both distance and reading glasses and cut them in half. They were combined, and thus the creation of the bifocals was born ('Inquiring Mind').

Benjamin Franklin logged many of his discoveries in publication. He used his talent of writing to share his findings and help make a difference in the health of all people. He promoted a healthy lifestyle of a moderate diet, exercise, and self-control in all aspects of life. One of his renowned book is called “Poor Richard’s Almanac”, shares health advice. Some famous quotes include, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” and “Eat to live and not live to eat” (Gensel). The first one says that going to sleep early and waking up early can be beneficial. The second one means to eat for nutrition, not for fun. These quotes and many others from the book showed people how to live a happy life and the best and simplest ways to prosper. Benjamin Franklin’s made many contributions to idea of healthy living and other medical related subjects. He used his gift of writing to share his ideas with the world. His findings and writings changed the way people lived and thought about health.

Safety for the people was very important to Benjamin Franklin. Specifically, he promoted fire safety. In one of his writings, he said that when people are carrying coals across a room, they should make sure to keep them covered so ashes being produced would not fall onto the floor and cause a fire (Higgins 47). He really encouraged Philadelphia to take safety precautions also. He believed that the city should hire licensed chimney sweeps (Independence Hall Association). A chimney sweep is a person that cleans things like chimneys, wood stoves, and fireplaces to help prevent fires. Benjamin also wanted the city to create a fire department. He got the idea from Boston, where he had seen fire engines and men with buckets filled with water that would work together to put out fires. Franklin persuaded the Philadelphia leaders to order ladders and fire engines from London for supplies for the fire company (Higgins 47). Benjamin finally convinced a group of men to create Philadelphia’s first fire company on December 7th, 1736. It was called the Union Fire Company. They met once a month to discuss ways they could improve fighting fires and prevent them from starting (Higgins 48). From Franklin’s idea, more fire companies started to branch out, including the Heart-in-Hand, the Britannia, the Fellowship, and a few others (Independence Hall Association). Many men were eager to join the Union, but were instead encouraged to start their own companies so there would be coverage all over Philadelphia. From the fire company came another idea. Benjamin Franklin created the nation’s first insurance company in 1752, called the Philadelphia Contributionship. You could pay a small fee, and any damage done to your house or any other building could be fixed for free (Higgins 47-48). Benjamin Franklin wanted to spread a message of safety and provide services for the people to keep them as protected as possible. His creation of the Union and Philadelphia Contributionship benefited many people and made Philadelphia one of the safest cities in the world (Independence Hall Association).

Benjamin Franklin’s many brilliant inventions and scientific findings revolutionized the way people lived and thought. He conducted many experiments with electricity and proved to the world that man can control and use natural phenomena to their benefit. He worked with doctors to help cure diseases and used his skill of writing to share the idea of a healthy lifestyle. Franklin also promoted safety and invented the Union Fire Company and the Philadelphia Contributionship. Benjamin Franklin accomplished many things in his lifetime, many in his old age. He was a scientist, writer, inventor and some may even say a ladies’ man. Through all of his great qualities and achievements, all can agree Benjamin Franklin benefited the citizens of the world in more ways than we can count.