His Invention of the Lightning Rod E-book
Author: Benjamin Franklin
Genre: History / Biography, Science
Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790) A preeminent American statesman,
author, inventor, printer and scientist, he is sometimes call the
"wisest American." After working for a time as a printer's apprentice
to his brother James, Franklin ran away to Pennsylvania in 1723 and
went on to become Philadelphia's chief citizen. There, among other
things, Franklin ran his own newspaper, published "Poor Richard's
Almanac," and became the city's postmaster.
His Invention of the Lightning Rod (1749) Here we learn of Franklin's
experiment with a paste-board tube and scales, the results of which
were "of use to mankind, in preserving houses, churches, ships, etc.,
from the stroke of lightning, by directing us to fix, on the highest
parts of those edifices, upright rods of iron made sharp as a needle...
and from the foot of those rods a wire down the outside of the building
into the ground..."
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