Thursday 13 December 2012
How does Benjamin Franklin effect us today
His discovery of electricity allows us to use anything electronic, such as video games and computers. His bifocals help the people that are a little blind see normally or better. His rods saves homes from lightning.[1]
Benjamin Franklin was an American statesman who helped to write the Declaration of Independence. But he was also a writer, publisher, printer and inventor.
Franklin proved that lightning is a form of electricity with the famous, and very dangerous, kite experiment. That experiment led to his discovery of positive and negative electricity and to his development of terms we still use today: battery, conductor, condenser, charge, discharge, electric shock, and electrician.
The lightning rod was among his inventions, along with the Franklin stove and bifocal glasses. Franklin also organized an effective postal system, mapped the Gulf Stream and recognized the aurora borealis as an electrical phenomenon. [2]
How would the world be different without his discovery?
Ben Franklin was an extremely interesting person. He was a statesman, inventor, printer, postmaster general, scientist, and patriot. There is no doubt that the world would be a different place had Franklin not lived. Some of his extraordinary accomplishments are his invention of bifocals glasses, the Franklin stove, fins (similar to flippers in underwater diving). He harnessed electricity writing much on its potential. He started the first fire company and street lighting company to ensure safety on the streets. He published two newspapers, 'Poor Richard's Almanac' and the 'Pennsylvania Gazette' in order to inform the public of their surroundings. Franklin was responsible for securing the funds from France to foster the patriot cause in America. He was a great negotiator of treaties with foreign nations in order to strengthen America's position in the world. Franklin was instrumental in not only changing the world we live in he helped to create the world we live in.[3]
The Inventions and Scientific Achievements of Benjamin Franklin
The Inventions and Scientific Achievements of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin - Harmonica
"Of all my inventions, the glass harmonica has given me the greatest personal satisfaction."
Benjamin Franklin was inspired to create his own version of the harmonica after listening to a concert of Handel's Water Music which was played on tuned wine glasses.
Benjamin Franklin's harmonica, created in 1761, was smaller than the originals and did not require water tuning. Benjamin Franklin's design used glasses that were blown in the proper size and thickness which created the proper pitch without having to be filled with water. The glasses were nested in each other which made the instrument more compact and playable. The glasses were mounted on a spindle which was turned by a foot treadle.
His harmonica won popularity in England and on the Continent. Beethoven and Mozart composed music for it. Benjamin Franklin, an avid musician, kept the harmonica in the blue room on the third floor of his house. He enjoyed playing harmonica/harpsichord duets with his daughter Sally and bringing the harmonica to get togethers at his friends' homes.
Benjamin Franklin - Franklin Stove
Fireplaces were the main source of heat for homes in the 18th century. Most fireplaces of the day were very inefficient. They produced a lot of smoke and most of the heat that was generated went right out the chimney. Sparks in the home were of great concern because they could cause a fire that would quickly destroy the homes, which were constructed mainly with wood.
Benjamin Franklin developed a new style of stove with a hood like enclosure in the front and an airbox in the rear. The new stove and reconfiguration of the flues allowed for a more efficient fire, one that used one quarter as much wood and generated twice as much heat. When offered a patent for the fireplace's design, Benjamin Franklin turned it down. He did not want to make a profit. He wanted all people to benefit from his invention.
Benjamin Franklin - Lightening Rod
Benjamin Franklin wanted his experiment to be practical, so he developed the lightning rod. A tall rod is attached to the outside wall of the house. One end of the rod points up into the sky; the other end is connected to a cable, which stretches down the side of the house to the ground. The end of the cable is then buried at least ten feet underground. The rod attracts the lightning and sends the charge into the ground, which helps to decrease the amount of fires.
Benjamin Franklin - Bifocals
In 1784, Ben Franklin developed bifocal glasses. He was getting old and was having trouble seeing both up-close and at a distance. Getting tired of switching between two types of glasses, he devised a way to have both types of lenses fit into the frame. The distance lens was placed at the top and the the up-close lens was placed at the bottom.
Benjamin Franklin - Map of Gulf Stream
Ben Franklin always wondered why sailing from America to Europe took less time than going the other way. Finding the answer to this would help to speed travel, shipments and mail deliveries across the ocean. Franklin was the first scientist to study and map the Gulf Stream. He measured wind speeds and current depth, speed and temperature. Ben Franklin described the Gulf Stream as a river of warm water and mapped it as flowing north from the West Indies, along the East Coast of North America and east across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe.[1]
K-12 Educational Resources
K-12 Educational Resources
Benjamin Franklin: Glimpses of the Man
"If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing." ~ B. FranklinAmerica has never forgotten Benjamin Franklin because he did both. He lived these words of wisdom by writing as much as he possibly could and by doing even more. He became famous for being a scientist, an inventor, a statesman, a printer, a philosopher, a musician, and an economist. Today, we honor Ben Franklin as one of our Founding Fathers and as one of America's greatest citizens. Although he was born in Boston, the city of Philadelphia is remembered as the home of Ben Franklin. In Philadelphia, you can find both Ben's gravesite and the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial. You'll also find The Franklin Institute Science Museum.
This quick glimpse at the long life (1706 - 1790) of a complex man is meant to help you learn about Ben Franklin and also to let you see how Ben's ideas are still alive in our world today.
To learn all that you can about the Franklin family, try taking a look at the family tree. To learn even more about Ben Franklin and his world, try taking a look at some recommended resource materials, enrichment activities, and a brief glossary.
Be sure to notice the electricity safety tips that are provided by PECO, Sponsor of "Benjamin Franklin: Glimpses of the Man." [1]
Franklin's Glass Harmonica
"Of all my inventions, the glass harmonica has given me the greatest personal satisfaction." - Ben Franklin
In the mid-1700s, Benjamin Franklin served as a delegate for colonial America and spent a great deal of time traveling to London and Paris. During this period, it was quite popular and entertaining for amateur musicians to perform on sets of "singing" or musical glasses. Franklin attended one of these concerts and was intrigued by the beauty of the sound. Almost immediately, he set to work applying the principles of wet fingers on glass to his own musical creation.
Ben Franklin completed his glass harmonica in 1761. (Its name is derived from the Italian word for harmony.) He didn't simply refine the idea of musical glasses, which were played much like children at the dinner table play them today, with notes being determined by the amount of water in the glass. Rather, Franklin made chords and lively melodies possible on his new instrumental invention.
Working with a glassblower in London, Franklin made a few dozen glass bowls, tuned to notes by their varying size and fitted one inside the next with cork. Each bowl was made with the correct size and thickness to give the desired pitch without being filled with any water. Franklin also painted them so that each bowl was color-coded to a different note. A hole was put through the center of the glass bowls, and an iron rod ran through the holes. The rod was attached to a wheel, which was turned by a foot pedal. Moistened fingers touched to the edge of the spinning glasses produced the musical sounds.
The glass harmonica was one of the most celebrated instruments of the 18th century. Franklin began to take his beloved harmonica with him when he traveled and played popular Scottish tunes or original compositions for his audiences. Later, composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, and Donizetti would write music for the harmonica. Because of its almost immediate popularity, the glass harmonica seemed destined for permanence. But by the 1820s, it was nearly a forgotten instrument.
Over the years, some disturbing events began to be associated with the glass harmonica. Some harmonica players became ill and had to stop playing the instrument. They complained of muscle spasms, nervousness, cramps, and dizziness. A few listeners were also subject to ill effects; after an incident in Germany where a child died during a performance, the harmonica was actually banned in a few towns. Some people thought that the high-pitched, ethereal tones invoked the spirits of the dead, had magical powers, or drove listeners mad. Others thought that lead from the crystal bowls or paint was absorbed into the musicians' fingers when they touched the glass, causing sickness. No explanation or proof was ever really given to any of these claims. Franklin himself ignored all of the controversy and continued to play the instrument until the end of his life with none of the symptoms mentioned. But the harmonica’s popularity never really returned to what it had been when it was first introduced.
At the time of his death in 1790, when more than 5,000 of them had been built, Ben Franklin had collected no money from his glass harmonica. He refused to patent any of his inventions, saying:
"As we enjoy great Advantages from the Inventions of others we should be glad of an Opportunity to serve others by any Invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously."
Ben certainly gave freely and generously, constantly investing time and energy to make his ideas a useful or entertaining reality. Some said the glass harmonica was magical, but perhaps the man responsible for it was. Franklin made it possible to create beautiful sounds with the touch of a finger, sounds that his wife Deborah once called, "the music of the angels."
The glass harmonica pictured here is on display in the "Franklin...He's Electric!" exhibit at the Franklin Institute. It was created in London by Charles James in 1761, made from Ben Franklin's own instructions. The instrument has a mahogany case and stand, and the musical glass bowls are supported on corks along an iron rod.
Learn more about the glass harmonica, watch Ben play one, and create your own tune on our virtual harmonica![2]
Benjamin Franklin as A Scientist
In the 1700s, a scientist was someone who thought about the way things work and tried to figure out ways to make things work better. Today, that definition is still true. Every time Ben Franklin saw a question and tried to answer it, he was a scientist. Every time you ask a question and try to get an answer, you too are a scientist. Ben is most famous for his questions about electricity, but he also experimented with many other ideas in nature.
In 1743, Ben observed that northeast storms begin in the southwest. He thought it was odd that storms travel in an opposite direction to their winds. He predicted that a storm's course could be plotted. Ben rode a horse through a storm and chased a whirlwind three-quarters of a mile in order to learn more about storms. So, in a way, Ben was a weatherman too! He even printed weather forecasts in his almanack. Today's meteorologists don't chase storms on horseback, but they do continue to plot the course of storms.
Since Ben spent so much time sailing to Europe across the Atlantic Ocean, he became very interested in both ocean currents and shipbuilding. Ben was actually one of the first people to chart the Gulf Stream. He measured its temperature on each of his eight voyages and was able to chart the Stream in detail.
In November of 1783, Ben happened to be in Paris, France working on a peace treaty to end the American war against England. From his hotel window, he was able to watch the world's first known hot air balloon flight. The balloon lifted the Montgolfier brothers off of the ground as the first human beings ever known to fly. Ben was very interested in the idea of flight, predicting that one day balloons would be used for military spy flights and dropping bombs during battle. Soon, balloons were actually being used for recreation, military, and scientific purposes. Even though they could not yet be steered, many people volunteered to take a ride just for fun! Sadly, Ben Franklin died three years before the first American hot air balloon voyage. In 1793, Jean Pierre Blanchard lifted off from the Walnut Street Prison Yard in Philadelphia, beginning the hot air balloon craze in America. [1]
Ancestry
Ancestry
Josiah Franklin had 17 children with his two wives. He married his first wife, Anne Child, in about 1677 in Ecton and emigrated with her to Boston in 1683; they had three children before emigrating, and four after. After her death, Josiah married Abiah Folger on July 9, 1689, in the Old South Meeting House by Samuel Willard. Benjamin, their eighth child, was Josiah Franklin's 15th child and tenth and last son.
Benjamin Franklin's mother, Abiah Folger, was born into a Puritan family among those that fled to Massachusetts to establish a purified Congregationalist Christianity in New England, when King Charles I of England began persecuting Puritans. They sailed for Boston in 1635. Her father was "the sort of rebel destined to transform colonial America";[7] as clerk of the court, he was jailed for disobeying the local magistrate in defense of middle-class shopkeepers and artisans in conflict with wealthy landowners. Ben Franklin followed in his grandfather's footsteps in his battles against the wealthy Penn family that owned the Pennsylvania Colony.[1]
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