The political legacy of Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) has tended to overshadow his inventions and scientific discoveries, but this work, of which the 1769 enlarged fourth edition is reissued here, gathers together published and unpublished letters which demonstrate the range of his interests. A large number (many addressed to his friend, the English botanist Peter Collinson) are about experiments with electricity, but (as the subtitle, 'to which are added letters and papers on philosophical subjects', makes clear) others discuss the setting of words to music, the warming of water by pumping, and how the speed of a boat varies with the depth of the water it moves through. The letters (and some replies) show a lively transatlantic group of scientific friends and colleagues describing their experiments, interpreting each others' results, and theorizing on all aspects of the natural world. Franklin's three-volume autobiography is also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.
Reihe
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Für Beruf und Forschung
Produkt-Hinweis
Illustrationen
6 Printed music items; 7 Line drawings, unspecified
Maße
Höhe: 229 mm
Breite: 152 mm
Dicke: 32 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-108-08016-3 (9781108080163)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Born in 1706 to humble origins, the young Benjamin Franklin made his way into the world with a sense of purpose and an awareness of what he was capable of. These qualities became self-evident and increasingly apprarent to the world around him as his abilities matured. The runaway teen who left his boyhood Boston for Philadelphia proved his developing talents as a prolific writer, printer and future publisher... famous for his Autobiography, Poor Richard's Almanac, and The Pennsylvania Gazette among others. He was also an inventor and scientist; Franklin was the genial genius... an affable common man who just happened to be the smartest person in almost any room he entered. He conducted groundbreaking work in electricity and made innovations that led to practical devices such as bifocals, swim fins, the lightning rod, the Franklin Stove, and the flexible catheter among other inventions in use to this day.After retiring from business at the age of 42, it was Benjamin Franklin as Public Citizen for his remaining 42 years that ultimately led to his role as Statesman and Founder... He helped make the case for the ultimate severance of political ties to Great Britain and for America to take up arms in defense of her liberty. He was present at the creation of a new nation and helped construct the foundation of what the United States would one day become as a beacon of freedom.
Advertisement concerning this fourth edition; Preface to the first edition; Letters I-V; Additional papers, 1749; Letters VI-XIII; Remarks on the Abbe Nollet's letters on electricity, by Mr David Colden of New-York; Electrical experiments together with some observations on thunder-clouds, in further confirmation of Mr Franklin's observations on the positive and negative electrical state of the clouds, by John Canton, M.A. and F.R.S.; Electrical and other philosophical papers and letters; Letters XIV-XXIII; Accounts of water-spouts; An account of the new-invented Pensylvanian fire-places; Letters XXIV-LXI; Index.
