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Benjamin Franklin

Original nameBenjamin Franklin

American Founding Father and Scientist, an Important Contributor to Early Electrical Experiments

The Names Remembered · Small Roles, Famous Names

The Kite ExperimentThe Invention of the Lightning RodThe Early Laying of Basic Electrical Concepts

Who they are

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) was one of the founding fathers of the United States and at the same time one of the most influential amateur scientists of the eighteenth century; by tradition he in 1752 flew, in a thunderstorm, a kite with a metal wire tied to its top, connected through the kite string to a key, verifying that lightning and the static electricity artificially produced in the laboratory are in essence the same physical phenomenon — this highly dangerous experiment (later history of science has also raised some doubt and reservation about its specific method and safety) thereafter established his historical standing in the study of electricity. On this understanding Franklin invented the lightning rod — a metal rod installed at the top of a building and grounded through a wire, able to safely conduct the lightning current into the ground and thereby effectively prevent the building from catching fire or suffering structural damage from a lightning strike — an invention thereafter widely applied on important buildings across Europe and America, the first truly science-based practical safety device in human history designed to guard against a natural disaster. He also proposed the basic electrical concepts of "positive charge" and "negative charge," a terminology still used today; though his judgment of the actual direction of current flow was later shown to be directionally wrong (whence the historical legacy convention of still using the "direction of current" even though electrons actually carry negative charge), this early exploration laid an important conceptual basis for the systematic development of the study of electricity over the century after.

Primary sourcesBenjamin Franklin, Experiments and Observations on Electricity (published 1751)

Key stories

The Kite Experiment in a Thunderstorm

By Franklin’s own and contemporaries’ accounts, in 1752 in a thunderstorm he flew a kite with a metal wire tied to its top, the end of the string connected to a key, and as the thundercloud drew near, marked sparks and static induction did appear on the key, from which Franklin confirmed that lightning is in essence a large-scale natural discharge, no different in nature from the static electricity artificially produced by friction in the lab — the specific process and degree of danger of this experiment have since been a continual topic of discussion in the history of technology.

One Iron Rod That Saved Countless Buildings

On his understanding of the nature of lightning, Franklin designed the lightning rod installed at the highest point of a building and connected to the ground through a wire, able to safely conduct and discharge the lightning current into the earth and prevent the building from structural damage or fire from a strike, and after this practical safety device based on rigorous scientific principle appeared, it was swiftly promoted on important buildings across Europe and America, one of the earliest batch of engineering practices in human history truly designed on scientific principle to actively guard against a natural disaster.

Version differences

The exact process and real degree of danger of Franklin’s 1752 kite experiment have always been questioned and discussed in the history of science, some scholars holding that if the experiment had really been done as the legend has it, Franklin might have been electrocuted, and the exact historical details are still debated.

Relationships

Disciple

🧲Michael Faraday　Faraday’s systematic experimental study of electromagnetism was built on the early exploration of basic electrical phenomena by predecessors such as Franklin

Echoes today

Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.

The "kite experiment" as a cultural symbol of the spirit of scientific explorationThe image of Franklin flying a kite is still one of the most widely known visual symbols in American culture of the "curiosity-driven scientific exploration" spirit, appearing on the US hundred-dollar bill, stamps, and many official and popular-culture carriers.

Appears in

The Scientific Revolution: Laying the Foundation of the Industrial AgeFranklin’s Kite and the Starting Point of the Study of Electricity

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