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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin's electrostatic machine | 3/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin's_electrostatic_machine | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:37:04.008946+00:00 | kb-cron |
Franklin distributed copies of the electrostatic machine to many of his close associates to encourage them to study electricity. Between 1747 and 1750, Franklin sent many letters to his friend Collinson in London about his experiments with the electrostatic machine and the Leyden jar, including his observations and theories on the principles of electricity. These letters were collected and published in 1751 in a book entitled Experiments and Observations on Electricity. While Joseph Priestley was writing about the history of electricity, Franklin encouraged him to use an electrostatic machine to perform the experiments he was writing about. Priestly designed and used his own variations of Franklin's machine. While replicating the electrical experiments, some unanswered questions prompted Priestly to design additional experiments, leading to additional discoveries. In 1767, he published a 700-page book on his findings called The History and Present State of Electricity. Eighteenth-century scientific laboratories usually contained some form of hand-operated electrostatic machine. Italian scientist Luigi Galvani had an electrostatic generator in his laboratory, where experiments with frog legs led him to conclude that animals generated a vital force, an animal electricity. Another Italian scientist, Alessandro Volta, disagreed with Galvani's claim that the electrical effects were due to something peculiar to living matter, and he demonstrated that electricity can be generated merely by placing wet, salty material in between two different metals. This led directly to the invention of the first practical electric battery, the voltaic pile. After Franklin's death, two iconic artifacts from his research, the original "battery" of Leyden jars, and the "glass tube" that was a gift from Collinson in 1747, were given to the Royal Society in 1836 by Thomas Hopkinson's grandson Joseph Hopkinson, in accordance with Franklin's will.
== See also == Wistarburgh Glass Works Corbett's electrostatic machine Van de Graaff generator
== References ==
=== Citations ===
=== Sources === Avery, John Scales (2016). Science and Society. World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-3147-73-7. Boese, Alex (2015). "The Electric Kite Hoax". The Museum of Hoaxes. Retrieved February 6, 2017. Bridenbaugh, Carl (2012). The Colonial Craftsman. Courier Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-14473-3. Cohen, I. Bernard (1956). Franklin and Newton: An Inquiry Into Speculative Newtonian Experimental Science and Franklin's Work in Electricity as an Example Thereof. Harvard University Press. Cohen, I. Bernard (1990). Benjamin Franklin's Science. Harvard University Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-674-06659-5. Peter Collinson glass tube Franklin gift. Coulson, Thomas (1950). Joseph Henry: His Life and Work. Princeton University Press. The atmosphere of Philadelphia gave him and his associates exceptional opportunity to exercise their skill with the electrostatic machine. As a result, many of their experiments were of an original character. The famous kite experiment enabled the Philadelphia group to established what had been surmised by others, that lightning was identical to the mild charge of electricity produced by the friction of the electrostatic machine. Franklin invented the lightning rod, which goes down in history as the first practical electrical invention. Crane, Verner Winslow (1954). Benjamin Franklin and a Rising People. Little, Brown and Company. Finger, Stanley (2012). Doctor Franklin's Medicine. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-0191-8. Franklin, Benjamin (1751). "Experiments and Observations on Electricity". E. Cave. Retrieved 28 October 2016 – via Smithsonian Libraries. Garche, Jürgen (2013). Encyclopedia of Electrochemical Power Sources. Newnes. ISBN 978-0-444-52745-5. Gregory, George (1822). A Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. Collins and Company. Grimnes, Sverre (2014). Bioimpedance and Bioelectricity Basics. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-411533-0. Isaacson, Walter (2004). Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-5807-4. Jackson, Joe (2005). World on Fire. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-03434-5. LeMay, J. A. Leo (1987). Benjamin Franklin: Writings. Penguin Group USA. ISBN 978-0-940450-29-5. Lemay, J. A. Leo (2009). The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Volume 3: Soldier, Scientist, and Politician, 1748–1757. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-4121-1. Lynn, Barry C. (2009). Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-55703-7. Maclean, John (1877). History of the College of New Jersey: From Its Origin in 1746 to the Commencement of 1854. Lippincott. Matthews, Robert (June 1, 2003). "Benjamin Franklin 'faked kite experiment'". The Telegraph. Retrieved February 6, 2017. McGrath, Kimberley A. (2001). The Gale Encyclopedia of Science: Catastrophism-Eukaryotae. Gale Group. ISBN 978-0-7876-4372-0. McNichol, Tom (2006). AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-04702-6. Morgan, Edmund Sears (2003). Benjamin Franklin. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10162-1. Malmivuo, Jaakko; Plonsey, Robert (1995). Bioelectromagnetism: Principles and Applications of Bioelectric and Biomagnetic Fields. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-505823-9. Pasles, Paul C. (2008). Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-12956-3. Pyenson, Lewis; Gauvin, Jean-François (2002). Art of Teaching Physics. Les Éditions du Septentrion. ISBN 978-2-89448-320-6. Schafer, Larry E. (1992). Taking Charge: An Introduction to Electricity. NSTA Press. ISBN 978-0-87355-110-6. Schiffer, Michael B. (2003). Draw the Lightning Down. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23802-8. Schiffer, Michael B. (2004). "Bolt of Fate: Benjamin Franklin and His Electric Kite Hoax (review)". Technology and Culture. 45 (4): 839–840. doi:10.1353/tech.2004.0202. S2CID 109344397. Schofield, Robert E. (1997). Enlightenment of Joseph Priestley. Penn State Press. ISBN 0-271-04083-1. Secor, Robert (1975). Pennsylvania: 1776. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-01217-9. Talbott, Page (2005). Search of a Better World. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-1-4379-6732-6. Tucker, Tom (2005). Bolt of Fate. PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-0-7867-3942-4. Waldstreicher, David (2005). Runaway America. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-8090-8315-2.
== External links == Benjamin Franklin's electrical apparatus (electrostatic machine) at Smithsonian National Museum of American History The Amazing Adventures of Ben Franklin – Scientist & Inventor / Opposites Attract with picture of glass globe on top Franklin's Electrostatic Generator information and picture from University of Maryland Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept. Archived 2016-12-06 at the Wayback Machine