Lightning Usually Passes from Earth to the Cloud 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.
That Lightning Usually Passes from Earth to the Clouds (1753)
Excerpted from a letter to Peter Collinson. Here Franklin relates an
experiment which led him to believe that all clouds were electrified
negatively. After contradictory observation by himself and his friend,
Mr. Kinnersley, Franklin concludes that "it is the earth that strikes
into the clouds, and not the clouds that strike into the earth."
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