Discovery journey
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790) was a great American politician.
He participated in preparing the American consitution and is rated as one of the founding fathers of the USA
simultaneously, he is also said to be one of the first Americans who went down in the history of science.
The work with electricity had become a modern leisure activity meanwhile.
For example, 100 persons should shake hands on a great stage. Afterwards they were made to wince all at the same time by an electric shock, just to amuse the audience.
And so it happened that during a fair show Benjamin Franklin's interest in electricity aroused.
Finally it was him who had the brilliant idea to which all of the phenomena could be traced back.
Today many people know his experiments to examine thunderstorms with a paper-kite.
Due to those experiments he invented the lightning conductor, but science has been revolutionised by the following insight:
„Eventually an experiment to test my idea came to my mind.
Although it is complicated, but if it works, we finally know the score!
At first, I rub a glass rod against fur, so both of them are electrified and attract each other.
Then I rub the fur against amber, so that it is electrified again.
Now I bring together the fur and the glass rod carefully ...
Hurray! It has worked. Now all of a sudden the fur and the glass repel one another.
With that I have proved it: