Ingenious
A Biography of Benjamin Franklin, Scientist
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- $36.99
Publisher Description
The dramatic story of an ingenious man who explained nature and created a country.
Benjamin Franklin was one of the preeminent scientists of his time. Driven by curiosity, he conducted cutting-edge research on electricity, heat, ocean currents, weather patterns, chemical bonds, and plants. But today, Franklin is remembered more for his political prowess and diplomatic achievements than his scientific creativity.
In this incisive and rich account of Benjamin Franklin’s life and career, Richard Munson recovers this vital part of Franklin’s story, reveals his modern relevance, and offers a compelling portrait of a shrewd experimenter, clever innovator, and visionary physicist whose fame opened doors to negotiate French support and funding for American independence.
Munson’s riveting narrative explores how science underpins Franklin’s entire story—from tradesman to inventor to nation-founder—and argues that Franklin’s political life cannot be understood without giving proper credit to his scientific accomplishments.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
If you mostly know Benjamin Franklin as an architect of American independence, this eye-opening biography will show you a whole other side to the inquisitive physicist. This fascinating chronicle recounts how Franklin dedicated his life to understanding the science underpinning our physical world, from his iconic experiment flying a kite in an electrical storm to his impact on trade by studying currents in the Atlantic Ocean. Author Richard Munson also goes inside Franklin’s mind, exploring his fear of becoming a scientific failure and his motivation to establish the soon-to-be United States as a new scientific epicenter. Munson masterfully connects the dots, linking Franklin’s physics research with his diplomatic work by showing how his research impressed the French and garnered their support for American independence. Whether you’re interested in science and history or just wonder what might make a high achiever tick, Ingenious shines a surprising new light on a well-known figure.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Science, rather than being a sideline, is the through line that integrates Franklin's diverse interests," according to this electrifying portrait of the founding father's scientific pursuits. Noting that Franklin's interest in electricity went well beyond his famous 1752 kite experiment, biographer Munson (Tesla) describes how in the 1740s, Franklin tested electricity's properties by tinkering with rudimentary batteries, a rotating electrostatic generator, and other equipment, becoming the first person to posit that "positive and negative states of electrification seek neutrality, which is the cause of electric shocks." Franklin's wide-ranging interests touched upon numerous disciplines, Munson observes, discussing how Franklin's demographic studies on America's population growth influenced English economist Thomas Malthus's writings on overpopulation, and how Franklin's water temperature measurements in the Gulf of Mexico determined the route of the Gulf Stream. The book's most illuminating sections cover how his scientific interests influenced his political career. For instance, Munson discusses how during Franklin's tenure as a diplomat to France in the late 1770s, his scientific renown had "French ministers and intelligentsia vying for audiences" with him, which he used to stir up French support for America's war for independence. Munson proves there's reason yet to revisit the much-studied statesman.
