| Term Paper Title | Benjamin Franklin |
| # of Words | 1579 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) | 6.32 |
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston Massachusetts. He was one of America’s most extraordinary figures. As a scientist, inventor, statesman, printer, philosopher, musician, econimist, and advisor for the Declaration of Independence, Ben Franklin brought his intelligence and wit to a new and growing nation.
Ben loved science and frequently did experiments. In the 1700s a scientist was thought about the way things work and tried to make things work better. Today, that definition is still true. Every time you ask a question and try to get an answer, you are a scientist. Ben is most famous about his experiments with electricity, but he also experimented with other ideas in nature.
In 1743, Ben observed that northeast storms begin in the southwest. He thought it was odd that storms travel in opposite direction from 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 to learn more about storms. Therefore, in a way Ben was a weatherman too. He even printed weather forecasts in his almanac. Today’s meteorologists don’t chase storms on horseback, but they do plot their paths.
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 hot-air balloon flight. The balloon lifted the Montgolfier brothers off of the ground as the first human beings ever to fly. Ben was very interested in the idea of flight, predicting that one day balloons would be useful for military spy flights and dropping bombs during battle. Soon balloons were being used for recreation, military, and scientific purposes. Even though they could not yet be steered, many people volunteered to take the ride just for fun. Sadly, Ben Franklin died three years before the first American hot-air balloon voyage. In 1793, Jean Pierre lifted off from the Walnut Street Prison Yard in Philadelphia, beginning the hot-air balloon craze in America.
Not only was Ben a scientist, but he was also an inventor. A list of Benjamins Franklin’s inventions reveals a man of many talents and interests. It was the scientist in Ben that brought out he inventor. His natural curiosity about things and the way they work made him try to find ways to make them better.
Ben had poor vision and needed glasses to read. He got tired of taking his glasses off and on, so he decided to make glasses that could see both near and far. He had two lenses, each cut in half, put into one frame. Today, we call them bifocals.
Although Ben is not famous for his study of bioscience, he was interested in how the human body worked. He constantly loooked for ways to help it work better. His most notable contribution to the study of the body was the catheter, an instrument for showing the blood’s circulation.
During his eight trips over the Atlantic, he had a long time to learn about ships, and how they work. He figured out a way to make ships work better and safer by inventing the watertight bulkheads.
Everyone knows the story of Ben’s famous kite flight. Although he made important discoveries and advancements, he did not invent electricity. He did discover the lightning rod, which is used to protect homes and buildings from lightning.
In colonial America, most people warmed their homes by using a fireplace, although it was somewhat dangerous and used a ton of wood. Ben figured that there had to be better way. His invention of the iron furnace stove allowed people to heat their homes less dangerously, and more efficiently. The furnace stove that he invented is called the Franklin Stove. Interestingly enough, Be...Read entire document
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