VIDEO: Snatching Lightning—Benjamin Franklin

National Association of Scholars

Benjamin Franklin was a prolific inventor, and he excelled at turning his ideas into practical, publicly useful endeavors. From the Franklin Stove, to his campaign for public lighting, to his work harnessing electricity, Franklin was a key figure in harnessing energies for public use.

How did Benjamin Franklin develop his ideas? How did his inventions affect daily life for people of that day?

This event features E. Philip Krider, Professor Emeritus at the University of Arizona School of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences and author; and Hal Wallace, Curator of the Electricity Collections at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.


Photo by Lee Junda on Unsplash

  • Share

Most Commented

October 29, 2024

1.

The Looming Irrelevance of Middle East Study Centers

Today’s Middle Eastern Studies Centers are facing a crisis due to the winds of change in the Middle East and their own ideological echo chamber....

November 19, 2024

2.

Lee Zeldin Should Reform EPA Science Policy

NAS welcomes the nomination of Congressmen Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency....

November 20, 2024

3.

NAS Welcomes Administrator McMahon's Nomination to Serve as Education Secretary

With McMahon, the new administration has a chance to drastically slim down and depoliticize the Education Department....

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

May 26, 2010

3.

10 Reasons Not to Go to College

A sampling of arguments for the idea that college may not be for everyone....