American printer, author, philosopher, diplomat, scientist and inventor. Ben Franklin undertook major scientific experiments with electricity, of which little was known at the time. He set out to determine that lightning was electricity using the Leyden jar (the first conductor) to test his hypothesis. He also made an experiment using a kite that verified that lightning is in fact, electricity. He also showed that laboratory-produced static electricity was akin to a great natural force like gravity and light. He invented the lightning rod. He was elected to England's Royal Society in 1756 and to the French Academy of Sciences in 1772 and was considered to be one of the leading scientists of the 18th century. In considering whether Franklin's contributions to science invoked a revolution, he falls short due to a lack of a mathematical postulate to support his discoveries.

Rose Fallansbee