"The Franklin Stove"
"Franklin wrote this description of the stove he had invented to promote sales of a model being manufactured by his friend Robert Grace. A series of partitioned iron plates permits a continuous supply of fresh warm air, separated from the smoke, to be distributed equally throughout the room. By controlling the airflow, less heat is lost, and much less wood is needed."
Several essays were soon written about the "Franklin Stove". The essays were published and translated into many different languages. The stove became popular and was wanted all over.
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"Franklin's Armonica"
"By fitting a series of graduated glass discs on a spindle laid horizontal in a case and revolving the spindle by a foot treadle, Franklin could create bell-like tones by touching his wet fingers to the revolving glasses. Franklin's armonica became popular in Europe, with Mozart and Beethoven composing music for it."
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"Franklin's Design for Bifocals"
"Electricity"
Benjamin Franklin's formulation of a general theory of electrical "action" won him an international reputation in pure science in his own day. Writing to Dutch physician and scientist Jan Ingenhousz, Franklin responds to a number of his friend's questions about electricity and the Leyden jar, an early form of electrical condenser.
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"In this draft scientific report, it appears
that Franklin wrote his answers first using dark ink, leaving room for the questions, which he wrote in red ink." |
"Mapping the Gulf Stream"
"Although Spanish explorers had described the Gulf Stream, Franklin, fascinated by the fact that the sea journey from North America to England was shorter than the return trip, asked his cousin, Nantucket sea captain Timothy Folger, to map its dimensions and course. Franklin published this map and his directions for avoiding it in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society in 1786. Systematic research, conducted by the U.S. Coast Survey, of the Gulf Stream did not occur until 1845."
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