Benjamin
Franklin was one of the founding fathers of United States of America. This
First American‚¬ campaigned for colonial unity. He was the first United States
Ambassador to France. He was successful newspaper editor and printer in
Philadelphia. His experiments in electricity and his many inventions, lightning
conductor in particular made him famous as a scientist. He discovered an
important principle of weather quite by an accident. He found an important clue
to the nature of cyclonic storms while observing a coastal storm in
Philadelphia in October, 1743. He
was the first
to notice that the winds within the storm do not necessarily blow in the
direction of the storm.
He was first
distinguished investigator of lightning. His conclusions that an electric spark
is similar to lightning lead him to carry out one of the most famous
experiments in the field of science. He flew a silver covered kite attached to
a wire during a thunderstorm and established that a lightning is nothing but
gigantic electric spark. Luckily during the experiment he took the precaution
of standing under the roof of a shed, or else he would have been electrocuted.
He knew that certain marine animals could produce light and the glow of sea
water was due to bioluminescence which means emission light from a living
thing. He was a post master for the colonies for many years. In 1775 he became
the Postmaster General of United States Post Office.
Yes such an awe-inspiring personality is my hero
Reference:
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin
The New Book of Popular Science volume 2&3
The Nature of electricity
Weather by Henry Lansford
Wind by Ivan R Tannehill
Bioluminescence by E Newton Harvey
First US postage stamp
1847
URL:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFranklin_SC1_1847.jpg
Attribution:
See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Franklinreturn to
Philadelphia 1785
URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFranklin's_return_to_Philadelphia_1785_cph.3g09906.jpg
Attribution:
Jean Leon Gerome Ferris [Public domain or Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons
