Ask today almost anyone who is depicted on the banknotes of the United States of America, you will certainly hear – the presidents of the United States. And if this someone and not remember all of them by name, at least two names he will name – George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, who are immortalized on one- and hundred-dollar banknotes. Most will also say, even without hesitation, that Washington was the commander-in-chief of the colonists in the War of Independence in North America and the first president of a great power, but they won’t be able to add anything more about Franklin. So who is he, Benjamin Franklin?
First of all, it should be said at once that Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was never the president of the United States.
But he did a lot during his lifetime, he was an educator, scientist, statesman, leader of the revolutionary movement in America, one of the authors of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of 1787, the founder of the first public library in North America, the American Philosophical Society of the University of Pennsylvania. The formation and development of American journalism is connected with his name.
It is the pen of this extremely wise man with a vast life experience belong to such famous winged phrases as “Time is money”, “Do not put off for tomorrow what can be done today”, “One move is equal to three fires”.
Whatever Franklin did, he did diligently and conscientiously. But the main work, which he performed really with pleasure and for which there was practically no time left, were theoretical studies and scientific experiments. His more or less regular scientific activity did not last long – only five or six years, and all the more worthy of astonishment are the extraordinary results that he achieved during this short period in the most diverse branches of science. Franklin studied in detail electricity, thermal conductivity of metals, the spread of sound in water, was interested in shipbuilding, geology, botany, history, economics, invented a lightning rod (which in everyday life is incorrectly called lightning rod), a very convenient and efficient fireplace, which is now used throughout the world, as well as an indispensable attribute of this fireplace – rocking chair.
Already in his childhood years he showed a tendency to invent. Thus, one day Ben came to the seashore with small boards made according to the size of the palms and feet. Putting on these improvised flippers, he swam with such speed that his friends were just in shock. Another time a guy came to the sea with a huge paper kite. Waiting for a tailwind, he launched the kite, entered the water, turned over on his back and, holding on to the rope with his hands, swam as if under sail, causing envy among his peers.
In 1753, Franklin, the first to investigate atmospheric electricity and bring the electrical nature of lightning to lightning, justified the idea of creating a lightning rod. To appreciate the real feat of the scientist, one should remember the times when he put his experiments: for many centuries the sky was considered sacred, and here an ordinary mortal was experimenting with “heavenly fire”. The great philosopher Immanuel Kant proclaimed that Franklin was the new Prometheus who got people fire from heaven. But the scientist not only received, but also tamed this heavenly fire, which annually led to the deaths of many people and terrible fires, during which burned out entire cities. Finally, it was Franklin who discovered the positive and negative poles in electricity and proposed to introduce in this field such familiar concepts as “plus” and “minus”, invented the flat capacitor and formulated the law of conservation of electric charge. For many years his name in the GHS system of units was given to the unit of quantity of electricity and electric charge – Franklin.
Students and employees of our university can see Franklin not only from time to time on American banknotes, but also every day: just go up to the energy wing of the first building – his figure occupies a prominent place in the gallery of outstanding electrical scientists.