Lightening Rod

Biography of the inventor

Benjamin Franklin was born on 17th January, 1706 and known as one of the founding Fathers of United States. He was the leading author, political theorist and scientist. HE was the major figure among public as a scientist and, he invented a lightening rod in 1752 which made him more famous in the society of 1700s. He also supervised several civic organizations and fire departments. He also received a title of “The First American” which was the great achievement for him and, no doubt he was successful throughout his life (Wright, 1986). He was also the president of American Philosophical Society (Schiffer et al, 2003, pp.33). He was fond of reading books and, not afraid of conducting experiments. Considering the family life of the scientist, he got only one son, William Franklin. All of his life was devoted towards scientific inventions.

What led him to make the invention?

During 1700s, the major issue of basic living needs was due to shortage of electricity and, lightening was the major issue of fire. Several buildings were caught by fire at that time because; these buildings were made from wood. Benjamin Franklin wanted to make an invention which could save these buildings and, for this purpose, he made a lightening rod (Smith, 1993, pp. 43-51). He took a risk by conducting this experiment at a cost of his life but, he was not afraid of these risks as he was a real scientist. On 1752, Franklin conducted an experiment in Philadelphia by extracting sparks from cloud. He was aware of the danger of electricity when he was capturing light but, he had to perform such experiments in order to save people from fire. When Franklin gave the idea that lightening was also the source of electricity, people got exited to know about his experiment.

What need did the invention fill?

Invention had filled the need of safety and protection to wooden housed. The purpose of the rod is to attract the lightening by sending the charge into the ground and, in this way amount of fires were decreased. Franklin wanted to save people from fire and, his major idea was that lightening was the electricity and, could be treated like an electricity shock.

How was the invention accepted?

We can have the idea of the acceptance of lightening rod from the scenario when King George III also used this invention by placing it on his palace in order to protect the building from fire. After few months, this invention had seen to overcome the needs of protection and, several houses and buildings were using this rod in order to protect from fire. At the dome of the State House in Maryland got the largest lightening rod and, it has got the record of just one lightening damage. Placement of lightning rods at several buildings and houses was a prove of successful invention by Franklin. After this great invention, name of Benjamin Franklin became famous and, people still remember him due to his great ...