Description: Cohen examines Franklin's scientific activities in fields ranging from heat to astronomy, providing masterly accounts of the theoretical background of Franklin's science (especially his study of Newton), the experiments he performed, and their influence throughout Europe and the United States.
Brief description: I. Bernard Cohen was Victor S. Thomas Professor of the History of Science, Emeritus, at Harvard University, and one of the founders of the modern study of the history of science.
Review Quotes: Reminds us that being the New World's foremost scientist was no easy task. The inventor of the lightning rod had to contend with a superstitious age...Resisting the urge of many scholars to allow their specialties to distort the subject, Cohen shows us Franklin's science as related to the other characteristics of a cheerily curious mind at work in yeasty times.--Peter Wild "Bloomsbury Review"